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Review
Californian-born New Yorker Gregory Porter shot to fame with his debut album, Water, in 2010, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal in the process. This follow-up comes with high expectations, but fans of authentically soulful vocals and luxuriant horn-heavy arrangements need not worry, Porter has, in a word, nailed it.
Porter’s voice is a marvel: a warm, assured tenor with precise, impeccable intonation, completely at home in classy originals that – like all good jazz – seem to bathe in timeless familiarity. On Painted on Canvas, Porter’s delivery is imbued with some of Donny Hathaway’s earnest wistfulness, while the title-track feels so much like a standard from the Great American Songbook that it’s a cinch to imagine it cropping up in a Sammy Davis Jr TV special between The Candy Man and Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head – and it comes as no surprise to learn that Porter is a veteran of musical theatre.
Yet, despite these stylings, Porter clearly sees his work as part of a jazz lineage – as driven home in the breezily up-tempo optimism of On My Way to Harlem with its Duke Ellington name-check and Porter’s claim of “I was baptized by a jazzman’s horn”. It’s a sentiment that benefits from the genuine jazz chops laid down by an acoustic band built around pianist Chip Crawford – who isn’t afraid to take his solos out beyond obvious melodic territory – and saxophonist/arranger Kamau Kenyatta, whose solos are a little more honeyed.
There’s a sense of sumptuous comfort about much of the album – and not just in the arrangements. Porter’s lyrics, too, seem to come from a place of great emotional strength: Real Good Hands is a respectful marriage proposal (complete with cornball 70s-style spoken introduction) and Mother’s Song is a gospelised paean to family values. In fact, towards the middle of this (quite long) album it’s all so wholesome and smooth that it’s a little like lingering too long in a hot bath and nodding off into steamy, contented slumber.
But all is made good by a couple of closing stormers: Bling Bling, a high-energy jazz gallop in which Porter unleashes an all-too-brief burst of raucous scat; and a belting version of Nat Adderley’s Work Song that raises exuberant goose-bumps. Yeah, Gregory Porter is the real deal.
--Daniel Spicer
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Jazzwise, (Kevin Le Gendre), March 2011
(4 stars) Intelligent lyrics...startling voice and well marshalled charisma...mark him out as a substantial addition to the canon of jazz singing.
The cover of Skylark is well-nigh perfect. Porter, an admirer of Nat King Cole, has left an impressive calling card.
His voice is a commanding instrument that lends itself beautifully to the varied tempos and mixed material represented on this album.
The cover of Skylark is well-nigh perfect. Porter, an admirer of Nat King Cole, has left an impressive calling card.
His voice is a commanding instrument that lends itself beautifully to the varied tempos and mixed material represented on this album.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
After his extraordinary debut album Water you might think it would be difficult to follow that - with all the acclaim it got. But no; if anything this is even better. Although it is more of the same - but anybody who liked that debut album (which was JazzWise magazine album of the year) cannot fail to be impressed with this.
Every track sounds like an "instant classic" and like it was written by somebody who has been in the music business for decades and not somebody who just appeared out of nowhere last year. So the sound palette is all-acoustic instruments again, with the Jazz influence dominating; although there are subtle elements of old school R&B, funk and soul. In fact, it is almost like Gregory Porter has taken all the best from "Black" music of the last 50 years and distilled it into a working Jazz band. 11 new tunes from Porter and a cover of a Jazz classic.
I love the sound - crystal clear and everything perfectly audible - just like a classic Blue Note album - but updated for the 21st Century. The piano dominates throughout and has an intimate conversation on the quieter tunes, then provides the impetus for the "blowing" on up-beat tunes. Some great horn solos, with Flugel sounding gorgeous on the stand-out track "On my Way to Harlem". Bass and drums are of the highest quality and provide support without ever intruding.
Of course it really is all about that voice - which just defies description. Dynamics, sustains, subtelty - no words can describe that wonderful sound. But Porter rocks out with the band and on up-tempo tunes like Nat Adderley's "Work Song" - he becomes another horn player and you can imagine this kind of tune is tremendous in a live setting!
What else can I say - you just run out of superlatives for this - you just have to hear it and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Every track sounds like an "instant classic" and like it was written by somebody who has been in the music business for decades and not somebody who just appeared out of nowhere last year. So the sound palette is all-acoustic instruments again, with the Jazz influence dominating; although there are subtle elements of old school R&B, funk and soul. In fact, it is almost like Gregory Porter has taken all the best from "Black" music of the last 50 years and distilled it into a working Jazz band. 11 new tunes from Porter and a cover of a Jazz classic.
I love the sound - crystal clear and everything perfectly audible - just like a classic Blue Note album - but updated for the 21st Century. The piano dominates throughout and has an intimate conversation on the quieter tunes, then provides the impetus for the "blowing" on up-beat tunes. Some great horn solos, with Flugel sounding gorgeous on the stand-out track "On my Way to Harlem". Bass and drums are of the highest quality and provide support without ever intruding.
Of course it really is all about that voice - which just defies description. Dynamics, sustains, subtelty - no words can describe that wonderful sound. But Porter rocks out with the band and on up-tempo tunes like Nat Adderley's "Work Song" - he becomes another horn player and you can imagine this kind of tune is tremendous in a live setting!
What else can I say - you just run out of superlatives for this - you just have to hear it and I can't recommend it highly enough.
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Porter's second release after the excellent debut 'Water' arcs again across the soulful to explosive jazz in a collection swelled with beautifully sung ballads to the scat blitz of his wilder moments.
Opener 'Painted On Canvas' is as tender as touch, the vocal caressing around gentle piano chords and playing lyrically with the colours of what makes us who we are. Title track 'Be Good' is playful too in its simple tune and the lyric 'she says lions are made for cages just to look at if you like/you dare not let them walk around cause they might just bite/she knows what she does as when she dances around my cage and says her name/be good, be good' - the metaphor of the lion teased and tamed in this relationship bolstered by a seductive alto sax solo by Yosuke Sato.
Third track 'On My Way To Harlem' is an upbeat homage to the influence and inspiration of Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Marvin Gaye: 'I so could use some of those blues from Langston Hughes'. His supporting band plays an energetic set for this spirited track. Fourth song 'Real Good Hands' has a wonderful spoken opening that evokes soul numbers of the sixties, and the sung assurances to the parents that he will look after their daughter seem equally anachronistic but totally believable in their polite promises, including 'I wanna make your daughter my wife'.
Seventh, the Webster/Fain 'Imitation of Life', is a classic piano-led jazz ballad that presents Porter's vocal in all its simple and gentle eminence. This is followed by another sweet offering, 'Mother's Song', which is a warm and heartfelt tribute invoking traditional sensibilities of honour, trust and blessing. Ninth 'Our Love' keeps the mood mellow and romantic.
It's tenth 'Bling Bling' that launches Porter's scat attack, and as with similar vocables in 'Water' it reminds me of that other expert of vocalese, Kurt Elling. The band again empathises with some raunchy playing, Tivon Pennicott's tenor saxophone screaming its part in the conversation.
The album ends on two classics. Penultimate track Ned Adderly's 'Work Song' gets a lively workout, Pennicott and Sato again laying down some scorching sax strides. Closer is a gorgeous a cappella version of 'God Bless The Child'. This is pure and perfect. No acrobatics here, but it is truly moving with its emotive delivery.
Porter is apparently most popular in Europe but particularly here in the UK. He appeared in the 2011/12 Jools Holland 'Hootenanny' and was, for me, the most distinguished performer in a show that is getting a little tired, though Holland's 'Later' is still brilliant at introducing acts on television, as with Porter when he released 'Water'. Porter did receive a Grammy nomination for that album. Whatever the wider acknowledgements and accolades, he is without doubt a great performer and this latest release is a superb addition to his art.
Opener 'Painted On Canvas' is as tender as touch, the vocal caressing around gentle piano chords and playing lyrically with the colours of what makes us who we are. Title track 'Be Good' is playful too in its simple tune and the lyric 'she says lions are made for cages just to look at if you like/you dare not let them walk around cause they might just bite/she knows what she does as when she dances around my cage and says her name/be good, be good' - the metaphor of the lion teased and tamed in this relationship bolstered by a seductive alto sax solo by Yosuke Sato.
Third track 'On My Way To Harlem' is an upbeat homage to the influence and inspiration of Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Marvin Gaye: 'I so could use some of those blues from Langston Hughes'. His supporting band plays an energetic set for this spirited track. Fourth song 'Real Good Hands' has a wonderful spoken opening that evokes soul numbers of the sixties, and the sung assurances to the parents that he will look after their daughter seem equally anachronistic but totally believable in their polite promises, including 'I wanna make your daughter my wife'.
Seventh, the Webster/Fain 'Imitation of Life', is a classic piano-led jazz ballad that presents Porter's vocal in all its simple and gentle eminence. This is followed by another sweet offering, 'Mother's Song', which is a warm and heartfelt tribute invoking traditional sensibilities of honour, trust and blessing. Ninth 'Our Love' keeps the mood mellow and romantic.
It's tenth 'Bling Bling' that launches Porter's scat attack, and as with similar vocables in 'Water' it reminds me of that other expert of vocalese, Kurt Elling. The band again empathises with some raunchy playing, Tivon Pennicott's tenor saxophone screaming its part in the conversation.
The album ends on two classics. Penultimate track Ned Adderly's 'Work Song' gets a lively workout, Pennicott and Sato again laying down some scorching sax strides. Closer is a gorgeous a cappella version of 'God Bless The Child'. This is pure and perfect. No acrobatics here, but it is truly moving with its emotive delivery.
Porter is apparently most popular in Europe but particularly here in the UK. He appeared in the 2011/12 Jools Holland 'Hootenanny' and was, for me, the most distinguished performer in a show that is getting a little tired, though Holland's 'Later' is still brilliant at introducing acts on television, as with Porter when he released 'Water'. Porter did receive a Grammy nomination for that album. Whatever the wider acknowledgements and accolades, he is without doubt a great performer and this latest release is a superb addition to his art.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
After the success of his last album: Water and in particular the track 1960 What, I doubted if this follow up CD would be in the same class, however the minute I heard the track On My Way to Harlem I new that we have something special with Gregory Porter. Top notch vocals from this newly up and coming jazz legend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fantastic!
As I'm only just getting into Jazz, this seemed like a good place to start.
This album is nothing short of brilliant. Read more
This album is nothing short of brilliant. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Chprdhrv
Easy listening
This is easy listening, reminiscent of combination other artists but thoroughly enjoyable and a good recommendation. Makes a good gift.
Published 20 days ago by Jd Smith
Gregory Porter is an exceptional artist!!!!!
Gregory Porter is played quite often on JazzFM which is where I first heard him. I have since become a huge fan and I have bought both albums, which I love. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Jelly
Stressless
1st saw him on Jules Holland and found his style to easy and relaxing to listen to. The album is great for stress relief and just to chill to. Read more
Published 1 month ago by flower girl
What a Great Voice
I had seen Gregory Porter on Jools Holland and the Carole King session on the BBC and he stole the show. Thoroughly recommended !!!
Published 1 month ago by Michael Hardcastle
Excellent album.
His best yet. Worth listening to even if you haven't listended to GP before. I saw him perform live in London in February 2012 and he sounded amazing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by drapat
Top notch
I'm more a soul music fan, but there are tracks on this album that just have me purring!!
Its a quality release, from Gregory's vocals and song writing, to the... Read more
Its a quality release, from Gregory's vocals and song writing, to the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by freedomrulesok
Gregory Porter's Classic Album "Be Good"
The delivery of Gregory's vocals and the associated musical content on this album was simply enthraling. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. A. Pennie
Buy it now!
This man's voice is sublime. The album continues on from his debut "Water", which is also essential if you love soulful jazz. Read more
Published 2 months ago by T. J. Toher
Soul /Jazz Music.
A really god album. Crossover soul jazz. Great voice, terrific, original lyrics on the new material. Good cover versions. If you like 60's and 70's soul you'll love this. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kevin Barry
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