Jacqui Naylor

Twelve Songs of Christmas

Singer Jacqui Naylor cops to the phrase "jazz vocalist," but she has worked to broaden the tags used to identify her and the spheres where her music can live. Since she debuted in the late 1990s, she has leaned into her inner singer/songwriter on occasion, and with "acoustic smashing," she has jumped the jazz fences entirely, pairing songs by R.E.M., AC/DC, Peter Gabriel and other rock acts with famous jazz songs. She smashes David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on her new album, The Long Game, which is out now.

We talk about that song, the album, and her 2007 album Smashed for the Holidays, which features a number of well-known Christmas songs paired with songs by the heroes of arena rock. She talks about using that album as ID, as well as the business and art involved in making that album.

We also start this week's episode with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by the DJ and producer Kascade, who recorded the song on his 2017 album Kascade Christmas as a mash-up of sorts by setting it to the hook in Hall and Oates' "Sara Smile."

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