So I am not a guy that likes to write reviews of a record. I like to
talk about the body of work that an artist produces. Often times I find
brilliance in an album only after hearing a follow up album or what an artist
is trying to do after hearing the next album they produce. In my last
blog entry I talked about John Carrie and his song, Please. It was the
song that was used in the video for Denver the Guilty Dog. I think that
some people understood when I said that in my opinion it wasn't even the best
song on the CD and that CD in my opinion wasn't even the best in John Carrie's
collection. Keep in mind, this is my blog, therefore my opinion. I
got several emails from people telling me about how wrong I was about the
song. Many are convinced that THAT song is the best that he had to offer
and it was perfect for the video. My reply to every one of those people
was the same and their response to me was expected. Question, how many of
John's CDs do you own and or have you listened to? Every single
person that responded to me was basically the same. They only knew that
song and only because of that video. Typical, you can't base an opinion
on one song from one CD. You especially cannot base whether a song is his
best or worst if you don't even know what his body of work entails! Oh, and the song wasn't written for that video. That just sort of happened.
Now here we are today, a few days after my seemingly hate filled post writing another about another artist with a few great albums. By the way, John Carrie personally responded to my post (Cool! I know, Right?) And thanked me for the post. He went on to post my blog link on his facebook page. I think that people that don't know his music were more upset than he was that I said that Please wasn't the best song on that CD and that CD wasn't his best work. And to that point, I never said that Please wasn't a great song. In fact, I said it WAS a great song. That should tell you how good the CD was. I guess my second question is, why send me email telling me you dislike my post. Why not just post it on my page. I don't hide from people's free speech. I encourage it.
Now, on to today's musings. If you were to take the amalgamation of the soulfulness of Teddy Pendergrass, add the impeccable tone of Luther Vandross, throw in the savoir faire of Johnny Mathis and top it off with the timelessness of Nat King Cole, what would you get? Or try this, if you had the Manhattans and tossed in the O'Jays and flavored that with the Isley Brothers and garnished all of that with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles can you imagine the sound? BUT, what that would you get if just for good measure you added Charles Mingus, Idris Muhammad, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal and Johnny Hartman? Well, you would get an idea of who Gregory Porter is. He is all of that but then again none of it. He is his own man and his band are who they are and together, Gregory Porter and his band are exceptional.
I was turned onto Gregory Porter a couple of years ago by a friend. I had never heard of him but one listen to his record, Water had me hooked. The title track instantly put my mind at ease. It was like a warm summer day right after a cooling rain shower. It made me feel good. It made me feel happy. It made me feel cleansed. Gregory's wonderful baritone voice is comforting in everything that he sings. As you listen to him, you do not tire as with many vocalists. Just the opposite, you find energy building with each song. As I listened deeper into his first album, I found so many memories pouring out of my youth with, 1960 What? I was born in 1965. I do remember the last part of the 60s albeit mostly snap shots in my mind. That said I do remember the early 70s vividly. This song reminds me so much of living in Long Beach, California in the early 70s. I can see the the Afros and Cadillac Eldorado's slinking down the streets in LA. I can see the racial inequalities and Vietnam War playing out on the nightly news. I can hear 1960 What as the soundtrack of that era, I remember those African American men on the street corner along Pioneer Blvd where we lived in Long Beach and talking to them and just thinking how cool they were. I was a 6 or 7 year old kid. I didn't know anything about racial problems really. I just knew those guys were cool and Gregory captured that on this that song. That song is funk, not in the way of say Parliament or the Bar-Kays. No, none of that. It is funk as in Gregory Porter. Like I said earlier. He is his own man. One of the things that I generally hate is when an artist takes a song that was made famous and then sings it the same way as the original. I have heard Feelin Good (written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) done by a million artists. None and I mean none measure up to Nina Simone. The musicianship is only overshadowed by her impeccable vocals. No one has ever come close. Gregory Porter's version is special too and comes as close to her version as I have ever heard. How is that possible you may ask? He captures in a stripped down, no instrument version the emotion that she used an entire orchestra to get. She sounds beautiful in her rendition but his puts the heart and soul of a share cropper picking cotton on a hot summer day in the Deep South at the turn of the century into my mind. Proof, that vocals from a wonderful vocalist can do for your mind and soul what a good book can do for you thoughts and imagination. Having talked about his funk and soul I haven't talked about the smooth, silky jazzy art that oozes from this man. The first song on this album is called Illusion and that is exactly what he paints. This song is "pretty". That is until you figure out that he is talking about a broken heart. A great talent can make you feel good by sometimes telling a sad story. THAT, is the kind of artist that Gregory Porter is.
So who is this vocal magician? He was born in the early 70s in Southern California not far from where I lived in fact. His mother being a minister gave him opportunity to sing in church. Perhaps that was where he gained that big, soulful voice. I don't know, but I am glad he found that voice because we are better for it. He excelled in football and earned a full football scholarship to Division I, San Diego State University. Not too shabby! Lucky for us (unlucky for him) he injured his shoulder and had to find something to do with him time. His body of music is a pretty good trade off I’d say.
Anyway, back to the music. How does one follow up a great freshman effort of a record? I mean Water really was a great album and was very well received. I don’t think I have seen a negative article about it. In fact I think it was universally liked. Well if you are Gregory Porter and you have set a very high standard and have lofty goals, you release, Be Good. I will admit that the lullaby title track had me hooked from the first time I heard it. I would have bought the CD for just that track but if I had only listened to that song I would have missed out on an album that I count in my top 50 records in my 48 years of life (I will be posting that list soon). Every single song on this record is smashing. Yes the tone is exactly what you would expect. Perfect, spot on and full of timbre. BUT, it is also so much more than that. It is timeless and warm. The tone and joy and sadness in his voice is palpable. He is able to play with emotion and wrap your mind around the theme of every song. Be Good is about him being relegated to the “friend” group in a woman’s life that he cared deeply for. What man among us has not felt that sting only to recover to something better later? So, if 1960 What, on his first record painted a picture of life in LA in the 60s and 70s then On My Way To Harlem is the New York City anthem. I can imagine guys getting ready to step out to the Apollo or Minton’s in the 60s to take in Dizzy or Charlie Parker or Billy Eckstine. If you continue the tour of this record to track number 8 you get to a song that so beautifully and exquisitely paints a picture of what a mother is. The love of the idea of what a mother is is so imbued in this song that you can’t help but hope every mother is like this. We are familiar with “I am woman, hear me roar”. This song is more like, I am mother, hear me whisper to you what you need to know and show you how to love. Following Mother’s Song up a few songs later is the ever meaningful God Bless The Child. Again, as Feelin’ Good on his previous CD, I have heard this song redone over and over almost to cliché. Everyone has their own take on it and this version is absolutely fantastic. Gregory’s effort is spectacular in that as he did with Feelin’ Good, he does it sans any instruments aside from his vocals. God Bless The Child is stripped down to only the emotion in his voice and what emotion there is. This follow up to his first record is more a follow on than follow up. I copied the first and second CD to my computer and then put them into a playlist and hit shuffle. Other than the fact that I know what songs are on each CD. I couldn’t tell the difference in style or emotion. Both flow easily and succinctly together. As I said at the outset, I don’t like to necessarily review an album but prefer to talk about an artist and their body of work because often, a CD will build on and create space for the next record.
So for his first two records, Gregory did an outstanding job of laying a foundation for people to fall for his ample talent. This is a guy that was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards and won best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014 for his third album called Liquid Spirit. What is amazing to me is the number of people that don’t know of Gregory Porter or the albums of which he created. In fact, if he walked down the street of Anytown, USA there is a really good chance the no one would even recognize him. I have a feeling that will change. With as much talent as he has, it is bound to change. People that do know him love him. They love the fact that he moves at his own pace. They love the fact that he will wear a flat hat that has been modified with a complete neck cover because he wants to. And finally, people love him because he is real. You don’t get a guy that needs Pro Tools or Auto-Tune or anything else to alter that voice. To do so would be awful.
As I mentioned, his third record won a Grammy for best jazz vocal album. Here is the great thing, this record expands on his second which tied your emotions to his first. Great artists can build your expectations over time just by staying true to who they are and what they are. Liquid Spirit starts with a bird and the luck of a broken wing delicately mended with love. No Love Dying is a great song about the goodness that is there if you can accept it and then pass it on. This song features an incredibly tasty sax solo that ties the song together also. When you move on to the title track, Liquid Spirit will take you down to the muddy river that is reminiscent of Muscle Shoals. This song is the epitome of old blues spirit. You will find yourself tapping your foot, clapping your hands and bopping your head the whole way though. I challenge you to try to not feel the funk coming out of this muddy water anthem and just when you have your heart up you are pulled a couple of songs later into Water Under Bridges and you are transported to a whole new emotion at light speed. We are transformed to a beautiful ballad that sums up the song that hit you with raw emotion just a few minutes before. “It’s like water under bridges that have already burned.” It is everything that the song before wasn’t. Liquid Spirit was the mud in the water, Water Under Bridges is the emotion that was in the mud. Moving forward again you are treated to Movin', a soulful 70s sounding song that could have easily been recorded by anyone from Lionel Richie to Lou Rawls to Al Jarreau. This song is about that guy that has his heart set on a woman but she doesn’t really notice and if there is a song that defies time it is this song. This could have been released in the 60s, 70s, 80, or 90s. It sounds perfect for the 2000s and today. It is just that cool. It sounds like something that you have heard before but then about like nothing that you have ever heard. How many artists can make you feel that way? Those that have heard the song know exactly what I am talking about. Those that haven’t, what are you waiting for.
Gregory Porter has come along at a time when the music industry is lacking. Pop stars are a dime a dozen and few have any talent outside of Pro Tools and Auto Tuning. Other than their looks they are devoid of talent. Many of the Jazz artist that I have heard lately are people that tend to screech out notes that are so far above their talent level that they cross the line of jazz and barely tolerable R&B. Speaking of R&B, most isn’t. It is a bastardized version of hip hop. Jimmy Scott, Jon Hendricks, Nina Simone and even Cab Calloway are in my opinion the standards by which all jazz vocalists should be judged. Gregory Porter fits in that mold. Is he that level right now? I don’t know, I know that he can hold a person’s attention like they did. I know that he has the ability to set a standard as they did. Only time will tell but if his first three records are any indication of what he is capable of, I would say we are in for a treat.
Be Good by Gregory Porter
Hey Laura by Gregory Porter
1960 What? by Gregory Porter
And Jools Holland on Gregory Porter
Link to him on facebook and see him when he travels near you. Gregory Porter's facebook page.
Now here we are today, a few days after my seemingly hate filled post writing another about another artist with a few great albums. By the way, John Carrie personally responded to my post (Cool! I know, Right?) And thanked me for the post. He went on to post my blog link on his facebook page. I think that people that don't know his music were more upset than he was that I said that Please wasn't the best song on that CD and that CD wasn't his best work. And to that point, I never said that Please wasn't a great song. In fact, I said it WAS a great song. That should tell you how good the CD was. I guess my second question is, why send me email telling me you dislike my post. Why not just post it on my page. I don't hide from people's free speech. I encourage it.
Now, on to today's musings. If you were to take the amalgamation of the soulfulness of Teddy Pendergrass, add the impeccable tone of Luther Vandross, throw in the savoir faire of Johnny Mathis and top it off with the timelessness of Nat King Cole, what would you get? Or try this, if you had the Manhattans and tossed in the O'Jays and flavored that with the Isley Brothers and garnished all of that with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles can you imagine the sound? BUT, what that would you get if just for good measure you added Charles Mingus, Idris Muhammad, John Coltrane, Ahmad Jamal and Johnny Hartman? Well, you would get an idea of who Gregory Porter is. He is all of that but then again none of it. He is his own man and his band are who they are and together, Gregory Porter and his band are exceptional.
I was turned onto Gregory Porter a couple of years ago by a friend. I had never heard of him but one listen to his record, Water had me hooked. The title track instantly put my mind at ease. It was like a warm summer day right after a cooling rain shower. It made me feel good. It made me feel happy. It made me feel cleansed. Gregory's wonderful baritone voice is comforting in everything that he sings. As you listen to him, you do not tire as with many vocalists. Just the opposite, you find energy building with each song. As I listened deeper into his first album, I found so many memories pouring out of my youth with, 1960 What? I was born in 1965. I do remember the last part of the 60s albeit mostly snap shots in my mind. That said I do remember the early 70s vividly. This song reminds me so much of living in Long Beach, California in the early 70s. I can see the the Afros and Cadillac Eldorado's slinking down the streets in LA. I can see the racial inequalities and Vietnam War playing out on the nightly news. I can hear 1960 What as the soundtrack of that era, I remember those African American men on the street corner along Pioneer Blvd where we lived in Long Beach and talking to them and just thinking how cool they were. I was a 6 or 7 year old kid. I didn't know anything about racial problems really. I just knew those guys were cool and Gregory captured that on this that song. That song is funk, not in the way of say Parliament or the Bar-Kays. No, none of that. It is funk as in Gregory Porter. Like I said earlier. He is his own man. One of the things that I generally hate is when an artist takes a song that was made famous and then sings it the same way as the original. I have heard Feelin Good (written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse) done by a million artists. None and I mean none measure up to Nina Simone. The musicianship is only overshadowed by her impeccable vocals. No one has ever come close. Gregory Porter's version is special too and comes as close to her version as I have ever heard. How is that possible you may ask? He captures in a stripped down, no instrument version the emotion that she used an entire orchestra to get. She sounds beautiful in her rendition but his puts the heart and soul of a share cropper picking cotton on a hot summer day in the Deep South at the turn of the century into my mind. Proof, that vocals from a wonderful vocalist can do for your mind and soul what a good book can do for you thoughts and imagination. Having talked about his funk and soul I haven't talked about the smooth, silky jazzy art that oozes from this man. The first song on this album is called Illusion and that is exactly what he paints. This song is "pretty". That is until you figure out that he is talking about a broken heart. A great talent can make you feel good by sometimes telling a sad story. THAT, is the kind of artist that Gregory Porter is.
So who is this vocal magician? He was born in the early 70s in Southern California not far from where I lived in fact. His mother being a minister gave him opportunity to sing in church. Perhaps that was where he gained that big, soulful voice. I don't know, but I am glad he found that voice because we are better for it. He excelled in football and earned a full football scholarship to Division I, San Diego State University. Not too shabby! Lucky for us (unlucky for him) he injured his shoulder and had to find something to do with him time. His body of music is a pretty good trade off I’d say.
Anyway, back to the music. How does one follow up a great freshman effort of a record? I mean Water really was a great album and was very well received. I don’t think I have seen a negative article about it. In fact I think it was universally liked. Well if you are Gregory Porter and you have set a very high standard and have lofty goals, you release, Be Good. I will admit that the lullaby title track had me hooked from the first time I heard it. I would have bought the CD for just that track but if I had only listened to that song I would have missed out on an album that I count in my top 50 records in my 48 years of life (I will be posting that list soon). Every single song on this record is smashing. Yes the tone is exactly what you would expect. Perfect, spot on and full of timbre. BUT, it is also so much more than that. It is timeless and warm. The tone and joy and sadness in his voice is palpable. He is able to play with emotion and wrap your mind around the theme of every song. Be Good is about him being relegated to the “friend” group in a woman’s life that he cared deeply for. What man among us has not felt that sting only to recover to something better later? So, if 1960 What, on his first record painted a picture of life in LA in the 60s and 70s then On My Way To Harlem is the New York City anthem. I can imagine guys getting ready to step out to the Apollo or Minton’s in the 60s to take in Dizzy or Charlie Parker or Billy Eckstine. If you continue the tour of this record to track number 8 you get to a song that so beautifully and exquisitely paints a picture of what a mother is. The love of the idea of what a mother is is so imbued in this song that you can’t help but hope every mother is like this. We are familiar with “I am woman, hear me roar”. This song is more like, I am mother, hear me whisper to you what you need to know and show you how to love. Following Mother’s Song up a few songs later is the ever meaningful God Bless The Child. Again, as Feelin’ Good on his previous CD, I have heard this song redone over and over almost to cliché. Everyone has their own take on it and this version is absolutely fantastic. Gregory’s effort is spectacular in that as he did with Feelin’ Good, he does it sans any instruments aside from his vocals. God Bless The Child is stripped down to only the emotion in his voice and what emotion there is. This follow up to his first record is more a follow on than follow up. I copied the first and second CD to my computer and then put them into a playlist and hit shuffle. Other than the fact that I know what songs are on each CD. I couldn’t tell the difference in style or emotion. Both flow easily and succinctly together. As I said at the outset, I don’t like to necessarily review an album but prefer to talk about an artist and their body of work because often, a CD will build on and create space for the next record.
So for his first two records, Gregory did an outstanding job of laying a foundation for people to fall for his ample talent. This is a guy that was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards and won best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014 for his third album called Liquid Spirit. What is amazing to me is the number of people that don’t know of Gregory Porter or the albums of which he created. In fact, if he walked down the street of Anytown, USA there is a really good chance the no one would even recognize him. I have a feeling that will change. With as much talent as he has, it is bound to change. People that do know him love him. They love the fact that he moves at his own pace. They love the fact that he will wear a flat hat that has been modified with a complete neck cover because he wants to. And finally, people love him because he is real. You don’t get a guy that needs Pro Tools or Auto-Tune or anything else to alter that voice. To do so would be awful.
As I mentioned, his third record won a Grammy for best jazz vocal album. Here is the great thing, this record expands on his second which tied your emotions to his first. Great artists can build your expectations over time just by staying true to who they are and what they are. Liquid Spirit starts with a bird and the luck of a broken wing delicately mended with love. No Love Dying is a great song about the goodness that is there if you can accept it and then pass it on. This song features an incredibly tasty sax solo that ties the song together also. When you move on to the title track, Liquid Spirit will take you down to the muddy river that is reminiscent of Muscle Shoals. This song is the epitome of old blues spirit. You will find yourself tapping your foot, clapping your hands and bopping your head the whole way though. I challenge you to try to not feel the funk coming out of this muddy water anthem and just when you have your heart up you are pulled a couple of songs later into Water Under Bridges and you are transported to a whole new emotion at light speed. We are transformed to a beautiful ballad that sums up the song that hit you with raw emotion just a few minutes before. “It’s like water under bridges that have already burned.” It is everything that the song before wasn’t. Liquid Spirit was the mud in the water, Water Under Bridges is the emotion that was in the mud. Moving forward again you are treated to Movin', a soulful 70s sounding song that could have easily been recorded by anyone from Lionel Richie to Lou Rawls to Al Jarreau. This song is about that guy that has his heart set on a woman but she doesn’t really notice and if there is a song that defies time it is this song. This could have been released in the 60s, 70s, 80, or 90s. It sounds perfect for the 2000s and today. It is just that cool. It sounds like something that you have heard before but then about like nothing that you have ever heard. How many artists can make you feel that way? Those that have heard the song know exactly what I am talking about. Those that haven’t, what are you waiting for.
Gregory Porter has come along at a time when the music industry is lacking. Pop stars are a dime a dozen and few have any talent outside of Pro Tools and Auto Tuning. Other than their looks they are devoid of talent. Many of the Jazz artist that I have heard lately are people that tend to screech out notes that are so far above their talent level that they cross the line of jazz and barely tolerable R&B. Speaking of R&B, most isn’t. It is a bastardized version of hip hop. Jimmy Scott, Jon Hendricks, Nina Simone and even Cab Calloway are in my opinion the standards by which all jazz vocalists should be judged. Gregory Porter fits in that mold. Is he that level right now? I don’t know, I know that he can hold a person’s attention like they did. I know that he has the ability to set a standard as they did. Only time will tell but if his first three records are any indication of what he is capable of, I would say we are in for a treat.
Link to him on facebook and see him when he travels near you. Gregory Porter's facebook page.
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