The Color Five

Album review

In many cases, the terms "acoustic-oriented" and "straightahead jazz" go hand in hand. Bop purists, in fact, have often gone out of their way to broadcast the fact that electric keyboards or an electric bass will never be heard on any of their recordings; they equate electric instruments with fusion and crossover jazz and acoustic instruments with bop, cool jazz, post-bop, Dixieland and swing. But when Jacqui Naylor calls her work "acoustic smashing," she isn't claiming to be a jazz purist; she has been blurring the lines between the vocal jazz/torch singing world and the folk-rock/adult alternative world, and she continues to blur those lines on The Color Five. This is an acoustic-friendly effort (although she does use some electric instruments when it's appropriate), but it is hardly a disc that adheres to an all-bop-all-the-time policy. Parts of this 2006 release is very jazz-oriented, especially "Here's to Life" (the gem that became Shirley Horn's theme song), "Blue Moon" and the warhorse "You Don't Know What Love Is." But more of a folk-rock/adult alternative approach prevails on "Sit and Rest a While" and "Easy Ride from Here," both of which Naylor co-wrote. On U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," Naylor successfully references Miles Davis' "All Blues" -- and her funky interpretation of Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" is consistently mindful of Bill Withers' "Use Me." Stylistically, Naylor wasn't easy to pin down on previous albums, and she isn't any easier to pin down stylistically on The Color Five. This CD won't win over jazz purists; The Color Five is an album for Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday and Julie London fans, but only if they also happen to be Tracy Chapman, Shawn Colvin and Sarah McLachlan fans -- and anyone who fits that description will find The Color Five to be an excellent addition to Naylor's catalog .

© Alex Henderson /TiVo