GREGORY PORTER about his mother and where he learned to sing

Special Sunday night at Sala Palatului with the most appreciated jazz singer of this time!

by Monica Apostol

In 2016, Gregory Porter mentioned in a video interview a few things about moving back home, the influence of his surroundings, his charitable mother and how he learned to sing. Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento and was raised in Bakersfield, California, where his mother was a minister. “She’s been gone for over 20 years now, but her energy is still on all the streets that we’ve traveled together. And it’s where I’ve learned to sing and to express myself musically.”

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.  “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,” says Porter.

“More Than a Woman”, a song dedicated to his mother and extracted form Take Me to the Alley, his fourth studio album  released on May 6, 2016 through Blue Note Records. It earned Porter a 2017 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b34SATRWCi8

We remind our readers that Grammy-winning singing sensation Gregory Porter – one of the most successful jazz artists of his generation – is back with a new album, ‘Nat King Cole & Me’, that was released on 27th October 2017. It is a deeply personal tribute to Nat King Cole.

The concert will take place on April 22nd at Sala Palatului from Bucharest. Tickets for this event can be purchased from iabilet.ro.

He sings songs that were either recorded by or inspired by Nat King Cole. The new album was released by Blue Note Records and Decca Records on October 27, 2017. Porter has cited Cole as an important part of his childhoold and an influence on his career. Jeff Simon of The Buffalo News compared the album to Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell.

 

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