Jacqui Naylor

Treasures of the Heart

Ruby Star

Innovative jazz vocalist Jacqui Naylor returns with her twelfth album, Treasures of the Heart. We covered her The Long Game (2021) on these pages.  Her accompanists are her husband, pianist Art Khu arranging all fourteen tracks, ten of which are originals, on which he is the co-writer. Khu also plays organ, Rhodes, celeste, and guitars. Long-time collaborator, bassist Richie Goods (Mulgrew Miller and many others) also returns. Tow new members form the backing quartet – drummer Ele Howell (Ravi Coltrane, Chief Adjuah), and trumpeter/flugelhornist Erik Jekabson (Benny Golson, Brian Lynch). Naylor has been a practicing Buddhist for 30 years and album title sources from The Three Kinds of Treasure, a letter written in 1277 by Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk and scholar.  That work inspires her originals.

The title track moves to a funky, soul-jazz groove and percolating percussion as Naylor sings joyfully, emphasizing it with this lyric – “Joy is a treasure of the heart.”  “All That We Could Be” is a warm ballad that features Jekabson. “Happy Adventure” sounds purposely dated, a swaying nod to ‘70s disco, a bit odd considering the musical skill and advanced vocabulary of these players, yet Khu likes to mix it up. The groove in “You’re the One’ is distinctly Motown, for example. “Picture Book of You’ is from one of their many fans who came to know the couple through their livestreaming of a subscription concert series Home2Home during the pandemic. This fan asked them to write a love song for his wife, giving them some clues by sending in a note listing her qualities as well as several pictures. Set to an infectious calypso beat, it has such nostalgic lines as “…Fine art in Florence, you by waters in spring/The day we exchanged our rings.” The darkest song in the set, “Hold On” also stems from a request for one suffering from depression. Naylor imparts a message of hope over a warm, simmering accompaniment.

You’ll note that Naylor is not prone to scatting or glass-shattering vocal pyrotechnics. Her low, smoky voice is, however, ideally suited to blues and soul. She channels such on “Love’s Around,” another featuring percolating percussion from Howell. The closer “We’ll Shine Through,” plays to a syncopated groove with Naylor especially animated in her delivery over Khu’s Ramsey Lewis-like stylings.

Naylor and Khu also selected four standards that fit well with these originals. Opener “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” plays to an Afro-Cuban beat, that colors several of the originals as well as Khu shines on the keys. Naylor and Khu transform Cyndi Lauper’s mega hit “True Colors” into a warm, fervent gospel love song.  On the other two covers, she employs her signature technique, dubbed “acoustic smashing” wherein she sings the lyrics or melody of a jazz standard over the groove of a rock or pop song. Listen for the strains of “Over the Rainbow” in her over of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” where Khu moves seamlessly between the Rhodes and acoustic. She applies the classic jazz trio touch to Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s In Love With You,” slowing the tempo into a late-night feel with Khu’s brilliant pianism delicate and elegant, a testament to his versatility.

Naylor proves once again that she’s not of the legion of conventional female jazz vocalists. Her command of the varied material, and her emotive delivery reflect her singular approach that has earned her a considerable worldwide audience.  She connects in a way few others do.

• Jim Hynes

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