Gregory Porter "All Rise" (2020)

All Rise

release date: Aug. 28, 2020
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold, pink vinyl) / digital (16 x File, FLAC - Deluxe)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Kamau Kenyatta, Troy Miller, Gregory Porter
label: Blue Note / Decca Records - nationality: USA

6th studio album by Gregory Porter is originally released on Blue Note and Verve in the US and on Blue Note / Decca in the EU. The album comes in many formats and in at least two versions as far as track numbers concern. The various cd versions contain 13 tracks as does the European - traditional and pink vinyl - 2 lp editions, but it also comes in a Dutch 3 lp version and a cassette edition both containing two bonus tracks, and it also comes as a 16 tracks digital Deluxe album (Qobuz). This rises a bit of a negative aspect about his releases, I think, 'cause with a running time at just over one hour, the thirteen tracks could be fitted on a normal 1-disc issue, and fifteen tracks would then be "the excuse" to release the Deluxe edition as a double album - though only on vinyl - but it has become a bit of a habit that Porter's album's are released as standard double albums despite not running that long. Three tracks on each side of the vinyl issue results in short playing times at approx. 15 mins. It's hardly compressed adding one or two tracks to each side.
Another thing is the cover art.... and let's just get straight to the point: Porter's front covers have never been about art, or attempts at making great art work, but let's be frank, it has never been this poor, and a triangle with the title alone would even be an improvement.
That bit aside, and speaking entirely of the musical qualities, All Rise is yet another strong evidence of Porter's composer and vocal qualities that simply makes him the king of contemporary vocal jazz. Gregory Porter has relaunched jazz as an everlasting and very modern genre by adding stylistic elements from contemporary popular music - be it funk, pop, or soul. It's remarkable how this man is able to write and compose songs of near classic status over and over again, and that's perhaps where this new collection may feel like an exercise in treading water.
Recommended.

Gregory Porter "One Night Only - Live at the Royal Albert Hall" (2018) (live)

One Night Only - Live at the Royal Albert Hall (live)
release date: Dec. 21, 2018
format: digital (19 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: non-produced / Jeremy Azis (video-producer)
label: Blue Note - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Mona Lisa" (other concert) - 6. "Miss Otis Regrets" - 8. "In Heaven" - 9. "When Love Was King" (other concert) - 12. "No Love Dying" (live at Polarprisen 2017) - 13. "I Wonder Who My Daddy Is" - 16. "The Christmas Song" - 17. "Smile" (Irish concert) - 18. "Hey Laura"

Live album by Gregory Porter recorded Apr. 2, 2018 at Royal Albert Hall, London. The album contains 19 tracks and is also issued in a cd + dvd combo-edition with the same material on both cd and dvd, also featuring an additional interview with Porter. The majority of the songs here are taken from the most recent studio album Nat King Cole & Me from 2017 as all twelve songs from that album are represented with the addition of seven songs from various studio releases. The band musicians supporting Porter are Chip Crawford on piano, Jahmal Nichols on bass, Emanuel Harrold on drums, and with Tivon Pennicott on saxophone - his usual backing band. Aside from these great jazz instrumentalists they're all supported by The London Studio Orchestra conducted by Vince Mendoza.
It's not an easy task to select highlights from this album where all compositions are fine examples of Porter's capacity as a vocal jazz and jazz standards crooner. He is in no need of modernised auto-tune equipment, nor a producers golden post-production touch - it's recorded as is, and it's the second best when you missed being there.
Basically, this is the best album release in 2018 - I just don't want to include live releases in my top-3 end-list, which is why it isn't there. But asked to choose between this year's studio releases by Robyn, Nils Frahm, Gorillaz and Porter's live album, I'd go with Porter anytime, as it's absolutely wonderful.
Highly recommendable.
[ 👍allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Gregory Porter "Nat 'King' Cole & Me" (2017)

Nat 'King' Cole & Me
release date: Oct. 27, 2017
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Vince Mendoza
label: Blue Note Records - nationality: USA

5th studio album by Gregory Porter is as the title suggests a tribute to and an album exclusively featuring songs recorded by Nat "King" Cole arranged and produced by Vince Mendoza.

The songs are not that far from Porter's usual style and it really gives you the opportunity to hear from where he got much of his influence. The songs are nicely arranged with the abundance of strings and brass that were associated with Nat Cole, and needless say, it also fits Porter's smooth vocal like hand in glove.

The album comes in various formats - in a standard single cd edition containing twelve tracks, a Deluxe edition containing fifteen tracks like the double vinyl album.

The album hasn't been met by the 'usual' overwhelming positive reviews, and I do understand some of the critics indicating that it's like Porter's voice doesn't compare to the strengths of Cole. In these vocal jazz standards Porter contributes with his honey-dripping warm vocal but doesn't add new dimensions to already classic songs and in that regard has made a bit of the redundant tribute.

Gregory Porter "Take Me to the Alley" (2016)

Take Me to the Alley
release date: May 6, 2016
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Gregory Porter and Kamau Kenyatta
label: Blue Note Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: A) 1. "Holding On" - 2. "Don’t Lose Your Steam" - 3. "Take Me to the Alley" - - B) 2. "Consequence of Love" - - C) 2. "In Heaven" - 3. "Insanity" - - D) 1. "Don't Be a Fool" - 2. "Fan the Flames"

4th studio album by Gregory Porter is released as a double gatefold vinyl lp containing 12 tracks with three compositions on each side and a total running time at just above 51 mins. The cd release comes in various issues where most contain 13 or 14 tracks. Porter has already established himself as a shining star and a renewer of jazz, and he obviously likes to work with familiar collaborators. Producer Kenyatta has taken part as either producer, engineer or studio musician on all his albums and many others are old friends found on his previous albums, including Chip Crawford, Aaron James, Emanuel Harrold, Keyon Harrold, Yosuke Sato, Tivon Pennicott and Ondrej Pivec.
Porter has successfully relaunched the jazz genre into popular music by combining it with soul and rhythm & blues and this is also what he does on this with the continued style found on his two previous fine albums, Liquid Spirit from 2013 and Be Good from 2012.
The album has, like Porter's other albums, been met by international acclaim, and it's really no big surprise. You may argue that the album doesn't provide much new other than repeat the formula he delivered on his 2013 album, where he brought his jazz and pop soul combo into popular music territory, but it's not a mere reproduction of the blueprint to success rather than a display of musical ingenuity. He sings like a prodigy and he has written and composed the majority of the tracks - why shouldn't he be allowed to dwell on what he does better than anyone else. Porter is a gift - and not just to jazz, but to the world of popular music.
A highly recommended album.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, 👍The Guardian, The Telegraph 4 / 5, AllAboutJazz, PopMatters 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Gregory Porter "Issues of Life - Features and Remixes" (2014)

Issues of Life - Features and Remixes (compilation

release date: Sep. 12, 2014

format: digital (12 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: various

label: Membran - nationality: USA

Compilation album by Gregory Porter is not a best of collection but more of a look back on his career and what lay ahead of his Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit (2013). Yes, he did release two albums before that, and this is not simply emphasising these recordings but it's more of a revisit to his performances with other artists, which count five songs with Zbonics, four songs with David Murray Infinity Quartet, and one song with Paul Zauner's Blue Brass, one song with Opolopo, and one song with Brian Jackson. For those who think Porter is more of a standards vocalist, this selection dwells on his bolder vocal jazz performances with stress on jazz.

Gregory Porter "Liquid Spirit" (2013)

Liquid Spirit
release date: Aug. 30, 2013
format: 2 lp vinyl (gatefold) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Brian Bacchus, Kamau Kenyatta
label: Blue Note - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "No Love Dying" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Liquid Spirit" - 4. "Water Under Bridges" (4 / 5) - 5. "Hey Laura" - 7. "Wolfcry" (4 / 5) - 9. "Brown Grass" (4 / 5) - 11. "The in Crowd" - 12. "Movin' " - 14. "I Fall in Love Too Easily"

3rd studio album by Gregory Porter and his first on a major label after signing with Blue Note Records. The album is entirely made with the same musical partners, who stood behind Porter on his last album with Motéma Music, Be Good from 2012. The album is released only 1½ years after his last studio album and this time counting a total of 14 tracks - 11 of these new songs are composed by Porter.
It's no wonder Porter has been lauded with prizes with this new album. It continues his take on jazz, but this time he has made a small change of style in that he has abandoned much of the original free jazz universe, which made room for individual instrumentalists.
Liquid Spirit presents a very fine combination of jazz and soul that renews the whole genre of popular jazz and the American 'standards'. Porter has composed the majority of tracks on his own but the entire album sounds like classic American standards. He has such a great crisp vocal with hints of Isaac Hayes and Otis Redding and the most striking element on this new outing is his original blend of traditional jazz, vocal jazz and soul that has "class" written all over the place.
The album gained its biggest success in Europe as it sold Platinum in several EU countries (3 x Platinum in Germany and Platinum in the UK) and it reached #2 on the Top Jazz Albums list in the US (#187 overall). Nationally, it sold just above 40.000 copies, whereas Platinum in the UK is more than 300.000 copies and in Germany alone, the album sold more than 600.000 albums. For Liquid Spirit, Gregory Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014.
For people who loved his commitment to a traditional jazz sphere may consider this album as closer to mainstream pop, but given the fine reviews and sales numbers I'm also certain that a bigger crowd of people find the album more digestible and a highly welcomed change of style. Imho, this is porter's so far best album and one the best album of 2013 making it highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Daily Express, PopMatters 4 / 5, All About Jazz, Contactmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Gregory Porter "Be Good" (2012)

Be Good
release date: Feb. 14, 2012
format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Brian Bacchus
label: Motéma Music - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Be Good (Lion's Song)" (4 / 5) - 3. "On My Way to Harlem" (4 / 5) - 4. "Real Good Hands" - 8. "Mother's Song" - 9. "Our Love"

2nd studio album by Gregory Porter is his second and final album to be released on independent label Motéma Music and with this, he continues the wide jazz conglomerate established on the debut.
For this, Porter has collected a handful of session musicians of which both bassist Aaron James, pianist Chip Crawford, drummer Emanuel Harold, alto saxophonist Yosuke Sato and associate producer and horns arranger Kamau Kenyatta (who produced the debut and who also plays alto sax on track #1) play alongside with trumpeter Keyon Harrold and tenor sax player Tivon Pennicott and sort of establish the musical backbone to Porter's arrangements, just as they will on later albums. And this strong unity really proves its worth on the difficult sophomore release that only shows us a stronger and more original sounding Gregory Porter albeit he still gets into the many corners of jazz. The result is still a more focused album where he maturely keeps everything together - not just by his strong and playful arrangements but also thanks to his smooth and dynamic singing voice.
Where the debut lacked the strong individual compositions, Be Good brings us several songs of highest quality and although a shortage of sold albums it may just have been the reason why Blue Note Records chose to present Porter a record deal after this very fine album.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Gregory Porter "Water" (2010)

"Water" [debut]
release date: Sep. 2, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Kamau Kenyatta
label: Motéma Music - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Illusion" - 3. "Magic Cup" - 4. "Skylark" - 7. "1960 What?" - 10. "Water"

Studio album debut by Gregory Porter released on the small independent label Motéma Music. Stylistically, it's a blend of various stylistic variations of jazz, although, you will find resemblances with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and Gregory Hines. Porter has written more than half of the compositions here as if he was himself a longtime composer of jazz. It's the type of vocal jazz that bonds with great artists from the 1960s and '70s and Porter's voice is on top of most songs - binding it all nicely together.
The overall sensation here is an album of pure jazz with several tracks leaving room for traditional improvisational parts, which may distinguish this from Porter's later releases. He sings with wide variation and demonstrates his strong vocal - be it energetic bop-style, introspective soulful vocal jazz and occasionally with a warm, almost touching a Nat King Cole traditional sound.
I think it's an impressive accomplishment that showcases Mr. Porter's sense of quality - in songwriting skills, as arranger and as a great vocalist. My only complaint about the album is its lack of direction. He demonstrates his skills, but it contains many styles and jumping from one end of the genre to the other and pinning out a few others on the way doesn't make it a solid whole. That said, the album really serves to put Gregory porter up front when speaking of contemporary jazz.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]