Gregory Porter Storytellerthe by Allen Morrison / Photography by Jimmy & Dena Katz
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Gregory Porter StorytellerThe By Allen Morrison / Photography by Jimmy & Dena Katz ONLY A FEW MINUTES INTO Gregory Porter’s homecoming gig The at Subculture—a brick-lined singer-songwriter basement performance space overcame many obstacles on Bleecker Street in New York’s East Village—the on the road audience begins cheering. to fame Porter, natty in a beige sport coat, black vest, bow tie and pocket hankie, topped o by his ever-present head stocking and black hat, is belting out the nal chorus of his song “Painted On Canvas” backed by his rhythm section and, on this Monday evening, three horn players. photo caption PHOTO CREDIT GREGORY PORTER He has started the song, which prietor of a local coee shop. As we he describes as an impassioned plea walk to the café that a"ernoon, near- for mutual respect, in a re!ective ly every person we pass says hello to mood, but now, a"er two increas- Porter; he’s like the mayor. When ingly urgent horn solos by his side- not performing all over the world, men, he wails the line, “Can I use Porter lives there with his wife of a the colors I choose?,” stretching the year-and-a-half, Victoria, whom he last syllable of the word colors over met while touring Russia, and their several bars with a soulful !ourish. 9-month-old son, Demyan. A fan shouts out, “Yes!” as a wave What follows are excerpts from of applause sweeps over the crowd. the interview, including comments Porter has been singing for a grand on his album Liquid Spirit , to be total of three minutes. released by Blue Note on Sept. 17. $e show has a heartfelt, celebra- tory vibe. $is is the rst time Porter, DownBeat: A lot of folks at last night’s gig seemed to know you and 41, has given a headlining perfor- your material. mance in the city in months, and it sold out quickly. Only a couple of Gregory Porter: It’s interest- years ago—before the critical acclaim ing. I haven’t performed in New and the world tours—Porter played York in months. And sometimes a regular $ursday gig at Smoke, an that energy can build up. But I’m Upper West Side supper club where he always surprised by [the sell-outs]. packed them in for three sets a night I’m like, “Where do these people with no cover charge. Some of the fans come from?” But there are some from Smoke (as well as older fans from friends from Smoke, and some fans his house gig at the late St. Nick’s Pub who’ve been with me since St. Nick’s in Harlem) have now crowded into Pub. A lady I didn’t know told me this showcase at Subculture. I had to do “Painted On Canvas.” “Can I get an amen?” Porter I enjoy that song; it’s like a palate says, grinning. cleanser for me. Porter’s updating of a classic soul-jazz sound has attracted a That song has a melody that sticks to host of famous admirers, includ- your ribs. ing Dianne Reeves and Wynton Yeah. And however cryptic the Marsalis. Audiences instinctively respond to the some 20 years ago, Kenyatta recalls, “He was a meaning of the lyric, I’m essentially just talking pure charisma of this imposing, former San Diego young person with an old soul.” In 1998, when about mutual respect. $at’s something that I State linebacker who is not afraid to show his sen- Porter was gigging occasionally and working as a think comes across in a lot of my lyrics. People sitive side. A natural showman, he projects big chef, Kenyatta introduced him to his friend, !ut- respond when I say, “Can I choose the colors emotions fearlessly, singing with the fervor of a ist Hubert Laws; at the time Kenyatta was arrang- I use?” and “Do I have some say what you use?” storefront preacher. He comes by it honestly; both ing and producing a Laws tribute album to Cole. Allow me to dene who I am. Don’t look at me and his parents were ministers. When Laws heard him sing, he decided to put say, “$is is what you are.” I am more than people Although Porter has great technical strengths him on “Smile,” the album’s only vocal track. Laws say that I am. as a singer—a round, sonorous baritone, eortless says, “Gregory not only had a wonderful voice but intonation and clear elocution—his appeal is not a certain charisma, a glow that gave that track What was it like for you growing up in Bakersfield? purely musical. It’s more about lling an ancient something special. I’m very happy I got him on Bakerseld is its own thing. It’s denitely not human need for a storyteller. Porter is a natural that record before he became so expensive!” the Bay Area or L.A. I think about some of the sto- one, and something even rarer in jazz: a genuine $at recording led to Porter being cast in the ries of my childhood, and it doesn’t seem quite singer-songwriter. Tony-nominated Broadway musical It Ain’t right that it was California. His r&b- and gospel-tinged music and o"en Nothing But the Blues in 1999 and more theater impressionistic lyrics pour forth out of his life work, including the Cole show. His singing career Was it very segregated? experience as an athlete, chef, singer, actor and really took o a"er Motéma Records President Yes. When we moved there, it was to an all- playwright. Before his recording career took Jana Herzen saw him and his band at St. Nick’s white neighborhood. And most of my experi- o, Porter spent 10 years in musical theater. He Pub in 2009. Porter’s rst Motéma album, Water , ences were beautiful—good friends, eating balo- wrote and starred in a well-received play titled earned him a Best Jazz Vocal Grammy nomina- ney sandwiches, swimming in the pool. But when Nat “King” Cole and Me , which told the true story tion and impressive reviews and sales. His sopho- you’re the rst black friend of a white kid, you of Porter’s early life. As a boy, he was soothed by more release, Be Good , was another solid hit with get this stu … it’s not racism but curiosity. You Cole’s voice, especially the song “Nature Boy,” both critics and the public, gaining hundreds of know, feeling your hair, and “Does this wash o?” with which he identied. Cole’s tender baritone thousands of YouTube views for several songs My mother knew we would have to be like little became a substitute for the voice of his absent including “Real Good Man;” that song secured ambassadors, so she would say, “Let ’em touch … father, who had divorced his mother before he was him a second Grammy nomination, this time for and then say, ‘It’s cool, isn’t it?’ But don’t let them born. $e play, which had a successful two-month best Traditional R&B Performance. $e success of put you down about anything.” run in Denver, included his uncanny evocation of the rst two albums and his growing reputation But that can happen as well. No matter what Cole on stage singing his hits; it also contained six as a powerhouse live performer were key factors you did, if you won in sports, if you hit a home run, original Porter compositions. in his wins in the 2013 DownBeat Critics Poll: He there was one way the kids could get you. It was, His rst big break came in his mid-twenties was named Rising Star—Jazz Artist and Rising “Well at least I’m not black.” And it would hurt you when Kamau Kenyatta, the San Diego saxophon- Star—Male Vocalist. every time. ist, educator and arranger, became his musi- Porter re!ected on his career during an inter- I know it sounds like something out of the cal mentor and, in some ways, a surrogate father. view at the three-story brownstone in Brooklyn’s 1960s South, but they burned a cross in our front Kenyatta has gone on to produce or co-produce Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood that he yard when I was 8 or 10. $is may sound strange, all of Porter’s albums. When he rst met Porter co-owns with his brother—an actor and the pro- but I was fascinated by the construction of the 28 DOWNBEAT OCTOBER 2013 GREGORY PORTER cross—it was so well done. And they wrapped kerosene-soaked, ripped-up jeans around it; and wire wrapped around that. And the wood—it The Value of Loyalty was jointed so well. It took time. $at’s what got to me as a kid—it wasn’t sloppily done. on Was, the veteran producer and help from trumpeter Curtis Taylor—has been now president of Blue Note Records, together since they met at jam sessions at Har- How did your mother handle it? Dremembered the first time he heard lem’s storied St. Nick’s Pub five years ago. His [sighs ] She grew up in Texas and Louisiana, Gregory Porter. allegiance to them has yielded audible bene- so she could deal with it … but she knew it was “I was driving in Los Angeles, listening fits, providing him with a distinctive and flex- Bakerseld—this interesting little transplan- to the local jazz station,” he recalled. “And I ible soul-gospel-jazz sound that works equally tation of the South.