Vocalist Gregory Porter To Release New CD, “Be Good” on Feb. 14th, 2012

In the short fifteen months since Gregory Porter exploded onto the international music scene with his debut CD, Water, he has racked up a continuing stream of accolades and awards. Porter’s Water garnered a ‘Best Jazz Vocal ‘ Grammy® nomination (a rare feat for a debut recording), rocketed to #1 on both iTunes and Amazon in the UK, made significant sales inroads and has soared on to  be included on an international array of year-end ‘Best Of’ lists for 2010 in several genres. The happy result is that, in less than a year and a half, these successes have created a formidable draw for Porter as an international touring artist.

Porter’s ascending star is viewed most brightly in Europe, especially in the UK, where he has performed on Jamie Cullum’s BBC radio program, on Later with Jools Holland,  as  a featured guest at the London Jazz Festival and as one of two special guests on Carole King’s  2011 BBC  holiday television special.  UK’s Jazz Wise magazine named Water the #1 Jazz Album of 2011 (the first time a vocal album has achieved this distinction.). Meanwhile, across the channel in France and Belgium, press and radio have showered Porter with incredible accolades, lauding him as the new “Roi of Vocal Jazz,” in both jazz and mainstream press outlets such as L’Express.”  As his international reputation continues to grow, “Be Good,” the title track from Porter’s forthcoming CD, is being released as an advance single to herald the much-anticipated release.

On Be Good, (out February 14, 2011 on Motéma), Porter has crafted a work that not only meets, but is likely to surpass, the heightened expectations of the jazz and soul audiences eagerly awaiting his follow up to Water. Featuring Porter’s winning combination of “outstanding original songs, erudite lyrics and social comment, top drawer musicianship and improvisation, and a voice to die for” (Jazz Wise), Be Good is a musical compendium of groove-driven delights, ranging from quiet ballads to up-tempo burners, from romantic charmers to powerful, blues-tinged anthems.  Be Good finds Porter surrounded by the core of his powerhouse working band, with whom he recorded his Grammy®  nominated debut, and who have performed with him for over three years now: Chip Crawford on piano, Aaron James on bass, Emanuel Harrold on drums, and Yosuke Sato on alto sax.  Under the sure hand of producer Brian Bacchus, Porter and the band rise to new heights on Be Good, which is further fueled by richly emotional horn arrangements by Kamau Kenyatta, who produced Water and who continues to play an important role in Porter’s sound.  Kenyatta also performs on one track (“Painted on Canvas”) and guest instrumentalists Keyon Harrold ontrumpet and Tivon Pennicott ontenor sax are also featured throughout.

Porter tapped the prodigious talents of veteran producer Brian Bacchus for Be Good.  Bacchus, whose A&R successes have included Norah Jones’ Grammy® -winning Come Away with Me, as well as Cassandra Wilson, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Wild Magnolias, and Joe Lovano’s tribute to opera legend Enrico Caruso, Via Caruso, has produced projects for acclaimed jazz artists including Randy Weston, Lizz Wright, Richie Havens, Ronny Jordan, and Patricia Barber. Bachus first met Porter through a mutual friend and the two immediately recognized a shared sensibility, a sense of musical camaraderie that resulted in a strong in-studio collaboration.

“Gregory is the real deal and a revelation in terms of new male jazz singers, but I think that his voice coupled with his songwriting may be the thing that leaves most listeners with their mouths open,” says Bacchus  “There have been many solid singer songwriters coming from under the jazz umbrella of the last 10 years that are mostly brimming with folk and country influences Gregory is the first that I’m hearing that is squarely coming out of a real classic soul bag (i.e. Bill Withers, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway) as a songwriter, but with both feet firmly planted in jazz’s soil.”