17 September 2014 (gig)
22 September 2014
Thursday night at the itunes festival saw Gregory Porter and his band charm the entire circumference of the roundhouse with their skilled, soulful jazz.
It’s been a busy year of festivals and radio play for this hot newcomer who’s caught mainstream attention since the release of Grammy Award winning ‘Liquid Spirit’ for record label Blue note.
With the stage stripped back to reveal the brick and bones of this stunning venue – red-lighting with white spotlights on the piano, sax, double bass and drums was enough to hint at an old school jazz club. The musicians took their places before this huge, charismatic singer sauntered on, his trade mark flat-cap hat bound around his ears, and a voice that can make you cry one minute and dance the next.
It was a slick yet sumptuous set that travelled through Gospel, blues jazz and soul driven by a tight ensemble of musicians each of whom took their moment to shine with passionate impro breaks. As the spotlight turned to Chip Crawford on piano, Yosuke Sato on sax, Aaron James on double bass and Emanuel Harrold on drums it was a heart quickening reminder that good impro can draw an audience in rather than alienate them and its not only the Buble’s of the jazz world that can have broad appeal.
Funky tunes ‘Liquid Spirit’ and ‘1960 What?’ had the attentive crowd clapping and the beautiful sentimental numbers such as ‘Hey Laura’ and No love Dying’ sound both fresh and like they’ve been with us forever. Romantic highlight for me was a duet with Laura Muvela who brought fresh nuances to ‘Water under the bridge’ in a brief guest appearance.
But should you fear he’s just a crooner, there was a distinctly dark heart to this set with unrelenting beats and dark chordal progressions of ‘Musical Genocide’ and ‘Work Song’ where he sings like it hurts, reminding us that these musicians are far more than hand-clapping, foot-tapping showmen. Let’s hope we can keep the very cool Gregory Porter and his band returning to our shores for a long time to come…
Setlist:
1. Someday We'll All Be Free
2. On My Way to Harlem
3. No Love Dying
4. Liquid Spirit
5. Water Under Bridges (feat. Laura Mvula)
6. Hey Laura
7. Work Song
8. Wolfcry
9. Musical Genocide
10. Be Good (Lion's Song)
11. 1960 What?
12. Brown Grass
