Gregory Porter - Schedule, Program & Tickets
Gregory Porter
Almost four years have passed since Gregory Porter released his last album with fresh own material with “Take Me To The Alley”. Four years in which, of course, the singer was not idle. During this period he recorded the wonderful Nat King Cole tribute “Nat King Cole & Me” (2017) for Decca and also released two European concert recordings: “Live In Berlin” (2016) and “One Night Only: Live At The Royal Albert Hall ”(2018). He also performed as a guest on recordings by drum legend Louis Hayes (“Serenade For Horace”) and Jeff Goldblum (“I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This”).
But with his sixth studio album “All Rise”, which offers a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, blues and gospel, he is finally returning to new songs he wrote himself and in which he wears his heart on his tongue. The lyrics are steeped in Porter's everyday philosophy and are about real life. The album, produced by Troy Miller (Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Emili Sandé), also reflects the evolution of Porter's art into something more emphatic, emotional, intimate and universal.
After the recording of “Nat King Cole & Me”, two things were certain for Porter: that he wanted to record his next album with an orchestra and that music can heal. “All Rise” is bursting with songs about unshakable love, but it also contains a few more rebellious songs because the path to healing isn't even, after all.
"Yes, you could say that I went all out here," says Porter of his latest work. To record it, he combined the talents of his longtime loyal bandmates with a handpicked brass section, a ten-piece choir and the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra. “But when I compose the music in my head, everything initially only happens with the voice and piano and develops from there. It feels good to get back to the rhythms and styles and feelings and the way I set my own music from start to finish. "
While the strings were recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios, the real core of “All Rise” music was recorded in two other locations: the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, just hours from Porter's home in Bakersfield, and one cozy studio in the Paris district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a historic hub of the literary and jazz scene. Porter should start his days there by exploring the Parisian streets and cafes, enjoying lots of good coffee and croissants, and then relaxing in the studio for a couple of hours of recording. But the two-time Grammy winner is still a real workhorse. He had a job to do, so he and his band would go over the songs day and night to get the most out of them. “With that, I honestly caused some frustration among the members of the band. I heard things like ‘This is the eighth different vibe we've given the song! ’And I said,‘ Yeah, I know. Let's try the ninth, ’” recalls Porter with a chuckle that could defuse much worse conflicts.
In fact, Porter himself wrestled with which direction to take the album. Like so many concerned US citizens these days, he was obsessive about day-to-day politics. Each new song turned into a response to the goings-on of those up there. At one point, Porter decided it was unhealthy to deal with it further. So he discarded almost everything that he had worked out up to then, looked inside, upwards and around him and finally found his new “purpose” in the title “All Rise”. “We hear this phrase when presidents or judges walk in,” Porter says. “But I'm thinking more of 'all of us rise' (we all rise) - not just one person should be raised. We are all important and we are lifted by love. This is my political belief and my real truth. Both come from my personality, from the personality of my mother, the personality of the blues and the blacks. "
“What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger,” believes Gregory Porter. This hard-won doctrine is articulated loud and clear by him in the bluesy “Long List Of Troubles”, in which he growls: “Disappointment can drop me, from a thousand stories high / I got a spare set of wings ... watch me fly ! " ("Disappointment can drop me from a thousand floors / I have spare wings ... see how I fly!"). “Merchants Of Paradise” is about the enslavement and trafficking of children from war zones. This problem has not left him since he appeared in 2018 in London and New York at events of the non-profit organization “War Child”. Now he would like to use this haunting song to sensitize his fans to this sad topic. In the brass-heavy southern soul jam “Mister Holland” he again deals ironically with racism.
On “All Rise” Porter makes no secret of the fact that love is complicated. Even when, as in “Dad Gone Thing,” he strikes the balance between reluctant emotions (between his disdain for his father's absence, his gratitude that he inherited his voice from him, and his sadness that he has no relationship with him) he manages to channel the warmth of Bill Withers into his voice. The song matured in Porter after attending his father's funeral. There he learned not only that the man had sung, but also that he was a war veteran. "I would have been proud of him all my life," says Porter in a slightly brittle voice.
Tracks like “Faith In Love”, which has a slightly funky Marvin Gaye groove, and “Thank You”, which is dedicated to everyone who helped Porter on his way, deal with the complexity of love, albeit on different way.
Subject to changes.
But with his sixth studio album “All Rise”, which offers a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, blues and gospel, he is finally returning to new songs he wrote himself and in which he wears his heart on his tongue. The lyrics are steeped in Porter's everyday philosophy and are about real life. The album, produced by Troy Miller (Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Emili Sandé), also reflects the evolution of Porter's art into something more emphatic, emotional, intimate and universal.
After the recording of “Nat King Cole & Me”, two things were certain for Porter: that he wanted to record his next album with an orchestra and that music can heal. “All Rise” is bursting with songs about unshakable love, but it also contains a few more rebellious songs because the path to healing isn't even, after all.
"Yes, you could say that I went all out here," says Porter of his latest work. To record it, he combined the talents of his longtime loyal bandmates with a handpicked brass section, a ten-piece choir and the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra. “But when I compose the music in my head, everything initially only happens with the voice and piano and develops from there. It feels good to get back to the rhythms and styles and feelings and the way I set my own music from start to finish. "
While the strings were recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios, the real core of “All Rise” music was recorded in two other locations: the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, just hours from Porter's home in Bakersfield, and one cozy studio in the Paris district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a historic hub of the literary and jazz scene. Porter should start his days there by exploring the Parisian streets and cafes, enjoying lots of good coffee and croissants, and then relaxing in the studio for a couple of hours of recording. But the two-time Grammy winner is still a real workhorse. He had a job to do, so he and his band would go over the songs day and night to get the most out of them. “With that, I honestly caused some frustration among the members of the band. I heard things like ‘This is the eighth different vibe we've given the song! ’And I said,‘ Yeah, I know. Let's try the ninth, ’” recalls Porter with a chuckle that could defuse much worse conflicts.
In fact, Porter himself wrestled with which direction to take the album. Like so many concerned US citizens these days, he was obsessive about day-to-day politics. Each new song turned into a response to the goings-on of those up there. At one point, Porter decided it was unhealthy to deal with it further. So he discarded almost everything that he had worked out up to then, looked inside, upwards and around him and finally found his new “purpose” in the title “All Rise”. “We hear this phrase when presidents or judges walk in,” Porter says. “But I'm thinking more of 'all of us rise' (we all rise) - not just one person should be raised. We are all important and we are lifted by love. This is my political belief and my real truth. Both come from my personality, from the personality of my mother, the personality of the blues and the blacks. "
“What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger,” believes Gregory Porter. This hard-won doctrine is articulated loud and clear by him in the bluesy “Long List Of Troubles”, in which he growls: “Disappointment can drop me, from a thousand stories high / I got a spare set of wings ... watch me fly ! " ("Disappointment can drop me from a thousand floors / I have spare wings ... see how I fly!"). “Merchants Of Paradise” is about the enslavement and trafficking of children from war zones. This problem has not left him since he appeared in 2018 in London and New York at events of the non-profit organization “War Child”. Now he would like to use this haunting song to sensitize his fans to this sad topic. In the brass-heavy southern soul jam “Mister Holland” he again deals ironically with racism.
On “All Rise” Porter makes no secret of the fact that love is complicated. Even when, as in “Dad Gone Thing,” he strikes the balance between reluctant emotions (between his disdain for his father's absence, his gratitude that he inherited his voice from him, and his sadness that he has no relationship with him) he manages to channel the warmth of Bill Withers into his voice. The song matured in Porter after attending his father's funeral. There he learned not only that the man had sung, but also that he was a war veteran. "I would have been proud of him all my life," says Porter in a slightly brittle voice.
Tracks like “Faith In Love”, which has a slightly funky Marvin Gaye groove, and “Thank You”, which is dedicated to everyone who helped Porter on his way, deal with the complexity of love, albeit on different way.
Subject to changes.
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