Gregory Porter
Take Me To The Alley
(Blue Note/Decca Records)
Porter’s previous record was a melting pot of smooth soul, jazz ambience and sometimes edginess, glued together by his charisma. The man has presence, evident experience, a good feel for the mood of a crowd and brings fabulous musicians to his stage…all shown by his touring of the Liquid Spirit record. He is likely one of the most credible jazz-influenced artists to emerge since George Benson and similar in that the popularity he has attained has not been at the expense of quality.
Let’s run through the personnel: Alicia Olatuja (vcl), stalwart Chip Crawford (piano), Aaron James (bass), Emanuel Harrold (Drums), Keyon Harrold (trumpet), Yosuke Sato (alto sax), Tivon Pennicott (tenor sax) and Ondrej Pivac (organ). The set is co-produced by Porter and Kamau Kenyatta.
‘Holding On’ is a piano-led patter of a song, with double bass taking a steady path between the fragmented chords, Porter use his most plaintive voice to put the lyric over, the song taking shape as an airy, underplayed piece. The silvery trumpet sounds so very lonesome as it pours squeezed notes into the arrangement. ‘Don’t Lose Your Steam’ is more strident, evoking the mighty Gil Scott Heron in phrasing, Hammond stabbing along as the Stax style drumming plays slightly across time with the horn arrangement jelling and a sax solo cruising out of the ensemble.Title track ‘Take Me To The Alley’ is a plea for attention to be given to those on their knees in society, taken at a sombre tempo and Gregory’s vocal sounding world-weary. The female vocal adds to the dreaminess of the piece.
‘Daydream’ has poetic words over a crisper beat. It almost seems like an old Fifth Dimension number, summer-psych ambience, And Porter sings it just so, a firm grip on the song, with harmonies on the bridge warm and tuneful.The tenor sax solo is very ‘in the room’, no delay or FX; ‘Consequence Of Love’ has a lovely surefooted melody, Porter doesn’t come across as though any of this takes anything out of him, but still sounds as though he means it. This is key to his appeal, of course.
‘In Fashions’ is set to a staccato rhythm, the verses tell of romantic obsession. But the tempo gets a tad wearing; ‘More Than A Woman’ is warm acknowledgement to a lady, maybe a mother? Exquisite drumming makes this special. ‘In Heaven’ has some lyrical trumpet passages, whilst ‘Insanity’ is as mellow as you could find and I reckon his will be the most durable and popular on this collection.
‘Don’t Be A Fool’ has a similar tempo to its predecessor; ‘Fan The Flames’ sounds a lot more lively, the horns blaring and Porter sounds a lot more animated and delivers the lyric of defiance with elan. To be honest I wish more of the album had this fire. The players rise to the occasion, excellent stuff indeed and a sparky piano break too ; double bass pumps us into the voodoo sound of ‘French African Queen’, the saxes blowing a strong set of figures and the whole rhythm is captivating.
Beautifully formed soul-jazz music and the last two cuts really lift the programme into full richness.
Pete Sargeant
Gregory Porter’s new album ‘Take Me To The Alley’ is out now on Blue Note/Decca Records. For more information visit his official website here: http://bit.ly/27MdPF0
