Porter’s luscious tones dazzle Jazz Festival audience
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2017 (2472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
We all can remember the creamiest milkshake we’ve ever had.
Take your time. Get that texture and flavour back in your mind.
Got it?
Well, no matter how creamy you remember it was it won’t even come close to the luscious-sounding baritone of California jazz singer Gregory Porter, who on Thursday night once again dazzled the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival.
Porter’s voice, along with his talented four-piece backing band, is as soothing as a warm blanket in front of fireplace, and just as romantic.
Almost immediately after starting the concert with Holding On, from his latest record, 2016’s Take Me to the Alley, he had the Burton Cummings Theatre audience roped in.
Later, his low notes during songs such as When Love was King and the magical Musical Genocide maintained their emotion witout dipping into cliche and yet he could reach upper registers when the moment required it.
Jazz styles and genres may come and go, but singing like this has never gone out of style, and never will, whether it’s Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan or Nat King Cole doing the singing. Yes, Porter belongs in such esteemed company.
His talent doesn’t stop there as he writes his own songs. While he has written his share of romantic ballads, he also croons about complex issues affecting inner-city communities, proving there’s more to his music than steamy flirtations.
His phrasing is spot on too. During the song Wolfcry, from his million-selling album Liquid Spirit, he sings a potentially awkward word like “vulnerability” so precisely, that the emotion he exudes remains genuine.
An alto saxophone provides an ideal contrast to Porter’s caramel voice, in much the same way that Leonard Cohen used a trio of female singers to back him and exhibit the feminine side to his songs.
The opening act, the Jakob Bro Trio, were the polar opposite of Porter’s super-accessible music. The acclaimed Danish trio played a hypnotic, almost trance-inducing brand of avant-garde jazz that stretches the boundaries of the genre into territory normally associated with the Winnipeg New Music Festival. It was easy to let your mind drift and let it follow the odd, gentle wave Bro’s music would create.
Bro, who plays electric guitar, would loop three or four rhythms at the same time, creating weird, eerie sounds. Meanwhile his sidemen, creative percussionist Joey Baron and bassist Thomas Morgan added to Bro’s offbeat vibe.
The jazz festival continues Friday with Montreal’s indie rockers in the headline slot at the Burton Cummings Theatre.
alan.small@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @AlanDSmall
Alan Small
Reporter
Alan Small has been a journalist at the Free Press for more than 22 years in a variety of roles, the latest being a reporter in the Arts and Life section.