Life and career

Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento and was raised in Bakersfield, California, where his mother was a minister. A 1989 graduate of Highland High School, he received a full-ride athletic scholarship to San Diego State University (SDSU Aztecs). A shoulder injury during his junior year of high school restricted his football career.

Porter moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 2004, along with his brother Lloyd. He worked as a chef at Lloyd's restaurant Bread-Stuy (now defunct), where he also performed. Porter performed at other neighborhood venues including Sista's Place and Solomon's Porch, and moved on to Harlem club St. Nick's Pub, where he maintained a weekly residency. Out of this residency evolved what would become Porter's touring band.

Porter released two albums on the Motéma label, 2010's Water and 2012's Be Good, before signing with Blue Note Records (under Universal Music Group) on May 17, 2013. His third album, Liquid Spirit, was released on September 2, 2013, in Europe and on September 17, 2013, in the US. The album was produced by Brian Bacchus. The album won the 2014 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Liquid Spirit enjoyed commercial success rarely achieved by albums in the jazz genre, reaching the top 10 on the UK album charts. It was certified gold by the BPI, selling over 100,000 units in the UK.

In August 2014 Porter released "The 'In' Crowd" as a single.

On 9 May 2015 Porter participated in VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, a televised commemorative concert from Horse Guards Parade in London, singing "As Time Goes By".

His fourth album, Take Me to the Alley, was released on 6 May 2016. In UK's The Guardian it was Alexis Petridis's album of the week.

Critical reception

Since his 2010 debut on the Motéma label, Porter has been well received in the music press.

His debut album, Water, was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. He was also a member of the original Broadway cast of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues. His second album, Be Good, which contains many of Porter's compositions, garnered critical acclaim for both his distinctive singing and his compositions, such as "Be Good (Lion's Song)", "Real Good Hands", and "On My Way to Harlem". The title track was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. In his review of Water, Kevin Le Gendre of the BBC wrote that "Gregory Porter has a voice and musicality to be reckoned with."

The New York Times described Porter as "a jazz singer of thrilling presence, a booming baritone with a gift for earthy refinement and soaring uplift" in its review of Liquid Spirit.

Michael G. Nastos of AllMusic wrote a mixed review of Water, stating "In hard bop trim, Shorter's 'Black Nile' has Porter shouting out a lyric line that was done many years ago by Chicago's Luba Raashiek, but Porter's voice is strained and breaks up. While on every track Porter sings with great conviction, he's more effective on lower-key compositions", but went on to say that "he's right up there with José James as the next big male vocal jazz star."

Personal life

Porter has seven siblings. His mother, Ruth, was a large influence on his life, having encouraged him to sing in church at an early age. His father, Rufus, was largely absent from his life. Says Porter, "Everybody had some issues with their father, even if he was in the house. He may have been emotionally absent. My father was just straight-up absent. I hung out with him just a few days in my life. And it wasn't a long time. He just didn’t seem to be completely interested in being there. Maybe he was, I don't know."

Porter always wears a modified flat cap for public appearances. In an interview with Jazzweekly.com by George W. Harris on November 3, 2012, when asked "what's with the weird and wonderful hat?" Porter replied, "I've had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for a while longer. People recognize me by it now. It is what it is."

Discography

Albums

Solo albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications

Year	Title	Peak chart positions
		US	AUT	BEL	DEN	FRA	GER	NED	NOR	SWI	UK
2010	Water	—	—	—	—	—	—	40	—	—	—
2012	Be Good	—	—	149	—	144	—	10	—	—	—
2013	Liquid Spirit	187	25	35	7	24	8	6	35	63	9
2016	Take Me to the Alley	82	11	10	—	14	8	5	—	11	5

Collaborations

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications

Year	Title	Peak chart positions
		US	AUT	BEL	DEN	FRA	GER	NED	NOR	SWI	UK
2014	Great Voices of Harlem	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	Issues of Life - Features and Remixes	—	—	138	—	—	72	49	—	—	—

Extended plays

Year	Title
2014	More Liquid Spirit - Features + Remixes

Singles

As lead artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions					Album
		BEL (Fl)	BEL (Wa)	FRA	IRE	NED
2012	"Be Good (Lion's Song)"	—	—	—	—	100	Be Good
2013	"Musical Genocide"	96	—	—	—	—	Liquid Spirit
2014	"Revisited"	—	—	—	—	—	N/A
	"The 'In' Crowd"	129	—	—	—	—	Liquid Spirit
	"No Love Dying"	81	—	—	—	—
2015	"Liquid Spirit"	126	—	107	—	45
	"Hey Laura"	—	—	189	—	—
	"Water Under Bridges"	—	—	—	61	—	N/A
2016	"Don't Lose Your Steam"	87	100	—	—	—	Take Me to the Alley

As featured artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions									Album
		US Adult R&B	US Elec	AUS	BEL (Fl)	BEL (Wa)	FRA	NED	UK	UK Dance
"Holding On"	2015	20	17	77	63	84	50	67	46	9	Caracal

Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Other artist(s)	Album
"Children, Your Line Is Draggin'"	1999	N/A	It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
"Sweet Home Chicago"		C.E. Smith, Buddy Guy
"Do You Feel Like I Feel"	2011	Nicola Conte	Do You Feel Like I Feel
"Ghana"
"Gogo Soul"	2012	The Rongetz Foundation	Brooklyn Butterfly Session
"Hard Bop Merry Go Round"
"Love's Work"		Robin McKelle and The Flytones	Soul Flower
"Sweet Country Love Song"		Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra	The Golden Age of Song
"No Fundo do Teu Silêncio"		Meeco	Beauty of the Night
"Nowhere to Run"	2013	Zbonics	Time to Do Your Thing
"She Danced Across the Floor"
"Issues of Life"
"She's Gone"
"Just in Time"
"Satiated (Been Waiting)"		Dianne Reeves	Beautiful Life
"Losin' Our Minds"		Kentyah, M-1, Brian Jackson, The New Midnight Band	Evolutionary Minded: Furthering the Legacy of Gil Scott-Heron
"Occupy Planet Earth"
"Song of the Wind"
"Army of the Faithful (Joyful Noise)"		David Murray Infinity Quartet	Be My Monster Love
"About the Children"
"Hope Is a Thing with Feathers"
"Souls"		Magnus Lindgren	Souls
"Small Stuff"
"Broken Heart"
"Vida"		Max Herre	MTV Unplugged Kahedi Radio Show
"So wundervoll"
"Stand by Me"	2014	Till Brönner	The Movie Album
"Let the Good Times Roll"		Andreas Varady	Come Together EP
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"		Jamie Cullum	Interlude
"Go Tell It on the Mountain / Ain't No Mountain High Enough"		Anita Wilson	Motown Christmas
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"		Renée Fleming	Winter in New York
"Central Park Serenade"
"Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)"		N/A	Autour de Nina
"Holding On"	2015	Disclosure	Caracal
"Right Where You Are"		Lizz Wright	Freedom and Surrender

Bibliography

• Christian Broecking, Gregory Porter. Jazz, Gospel and Soul. Creative People Books, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-938763-42-1.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]