Live East West

Album Review

Jacqui Naylor is a rarity — a singer/songwriter who often headlines well-known jazz clubs but is likely to include a lot of folk-rock performances in her sets. Naylor is quite capable of performing straight-ahead jazz, drawing on influences like Billie Holiday and June Christy. But on this live double CD — which includes a disc that was recorded at Birdland in New York City in 2003 and Yoshi's in Oakland, CA, in 2004 — Naylor doesn't stick to straight-ahead jazz by any means. Live East/West: Birdland/Yoshi's shows the Northern Californian to be a bluesy jazz vocalist who is equally appealing as a bluesy folk-rock/adult alternative artist. Naylor's folk-rock side asserts itself on her original material as well as arrangements of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" — and when she's in folk-rock/adult alternative mode, one hears a healthy appreciation of Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant, and Sheryl Crow. But Naylor's jazz side prevails on performances of George Gershwin's "But Not for Me" and Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones." Of course, the fact that Naylor fluctuates between folk-rock and vocal jazz doesn't mean that she's going out of her way to compartmentalize — it isn't like she's consciously saying, "OK, I'm going to be influenced by Tracy Chapman at 9:30 and June Christy at 9:35." Naylor has genuinely eclectic tastes, and whether she veers closer to folk-rock or vocal jazz is merely a matter of what feels good on a particular song. Also, the two can easily overlap; on "Black Coffee," for example, she brings to mind Chapman and Billie Holiday simultaneously. Live East/West isn't recommended to bop snobs or jazz purists, but those who are broad-minded enough to enjoy Anita O'Day one minute and 10,000 Maniacs the next will find this two-CD set to be excellent and delightfully unpredictable.