The New York-based singer has a voice and musicality to be reckoned with.
Apart from the obvious exception of José James, new male African-American jazz singers are becoming a worryingly rare breed. Whither an Oscar Brown Jr for the Obama years, a vocalist willing not to remove his shirt to reveal pectos to match Ne-Yo’s? Soberly adorned by dark jacket and magnolia muffler, Gregory Porter might well be the talent ready to fill that gap.
This auspicious debut, which showcases a well-drilled acoustic band whose horn section features veteran alto saxophonist James Spaulding, harks right back to the heyday of a Brown Jr or a lesser-known singer such as Bill Henderson insofar as the artist’s voice is deployed with the kind of stealth as well as power that imbues the set with a measured, graceful lyricism, no more so than on a crystalline reading of the Carmichael/Mercer standard, Sklylark. The way that Porter, a New York-based Californian who has spent long years in musical theatre, discreetly stretches out languorous notes in the coda, letting them flicker over a slowly ebbing piano, is quite masterful, nailing the essentially wistful nature of the piece without overloading the emotion.
Lees de rest van deze review op BBC CD recensies (Engels)
Bron: BBC Music