Gregory Porter
Cliffs Pavilion
5th April 2016
Cliffs Pavilion
5th April 2016
According to my reliable source, Southend-on-Sea has been severely lacking some decent jazz concerts of late. I don’t disbelieve this as it seemed that every jazz fan in the surrounding area was in the audience at Gregory Porter’s sell-out show at the Cliffs Pavilion.
Not being an avid jazz fan myself, I invited my friend, Carol, along to make sure I was clapping, clicking my fingers and nodding my head in all the right places. You see, Carol was brought up with the music of jazz legends always being in her life - her father was a huge fan. Apparently, if he particularly enjoyed a certain piece of music, he would often encourage the young Carol to listen to it over and over again so that she too could appreciate its sound, despite never being able to play any instrument himself. It was because of his love of this musical genre, that she too came to love the music of Gregory Porter, whom her father had discovered and shared with her.
Gregory Porter is well recognised for his trademark flat cap, which has been modified to look like a sort of balaclava but without it covering his face. As he has explained in the past, "I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for awhile longer.” He appeared on the Cliffs Pavilion stage wearing his cap, along with a three-piece suit combo, complete with waistcoat and bow tie and looking rather more like an English gent than the Californian from Bakersfield, that he actually is.
Fresh from London's Albert Hall, just the night before, Porter was received with rapturous applause by the audience and with a voice that is powerful yet smooth, rich and resonant his music provided an amazing eclectic mix of jazz, gospel, blues, soul and R&B. He had an easy banter, making the audience laugh at one point before singing No Love Dying, saying that he wanted to hear us singing at the end of it - pausing, for effect, - “but not until the end, alright? I love you but I don’t wanna hear you ’til the end.” Oh, Gregory, you crazy cat, you!
With a band that is clearly talented beyond belief, he gave the audience a fantastic run of songs, including Liquid Spirit, Hey Laura, Be Good (Lion’s Song), Don’t Lose Your Head of Steam, Musical Genocide, 1960 What? and Free. We were treated to some phenomenal musicianship from Porter’s band many times throughout the evening and each and every one of them deserves a mention, not least his drummer whose solo must have gone on for at least half an hour - okay 5 minutes…ish…but you catch my drift. Every member of Porter’s band get a chance to show off their craft and have the audience completely in the palms of their hands and were given numerous rounds of applause after every solo opportunity.
Not being an avid jazz fan myself, I invited my friend, Carol, along to make sure I was clapping, clicking my fingers and nodding my head in all the right places. You see, Carol was brought up with the music of jazz legends always being in her life - her father was a huge fan. Apparently, if he particularly enjoyed a certain piece of music, he would often encourage the young Carol to listen to it over and over again so that she too could appreciate its sound, despite never being able to play any instrument himself. It was because of his love of this musical genre, that she too came to love the music of Gregory Porter, whom her father had discovered and shared with her.
Gregory Porter is well recognised for his trademark flat cap, which has been modified to look like a sort of balaclava but without it covering his face. As he has explained in the past, "I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for awhile longer.” He appeared on the Cliffs Pavilion stage wearing his cap, along with a three-piece suit combo, complete with waistcoat and bow tie and looking rather more like an English gent than the Californian from Bakersfield, that he actually is.
Fresh from London's Albert Hall, just the night before, Porter was received with rapturous applause by the audience and with a voice that is powerful yet smooth, rich and resonant his music provided an amazing eclectic mix of jazz, gospel, blues, soul and R&B. He had an easy banter, making the audience laugh at one point before singing No Love Dying, saying that he wanted to hear us singing at the end of it - pausing, for effect, - “but not until the end, alright? I love you but I don’t wanna hear you ’til the end.” Oh, Gregory, you crazy cat, you!
With a band that is clearly talented beyond belief, he gave the audience a fantastic run of songs, including Liquid Spirit, Hey Laura, Be Good (Lion’s Song), Don’t Lose Your Head of Steam, Musical Genocide, 1960 What? and Free. We were treated to some phenomenal musicianship from Porter’s band many times throughout the evening and each and every one of them deserves a mention, not least his drummer whose solo must have gone on for at least half an hour - okay 5 minutes…ish…but you catch my drift. Every member of Porter’s band get a chance to show off their craft and have the audience completely in the palms of their hands and were given numerous rounds of applause after every solo opportunity.
Highlights for me included Don't Lose Your Head of Steam with its energetic and upbeat funky feel to it and which Porter tells us, with a smile, that he wrote for his 3-year old son, “in order to get him to eat up his cereal”. Clearly it has a more significant message of keeping going and staying strong, despite any setbacks life may throw at you; a message that was instilled into Porter by his mother. I also enjoyed the jazz mash-up of Papa Was a Rolling Stone and I Love Music after an impressive double bass solo.
You can sense how much pride Porter has not just for the music itself but also for each of his band members; especially when you catch him looking out at the audience as they each perform their solos, with the look of a proud and encouraging father.
With music from his 2014 Grammy winning album, Liquid Spirit as well as his new album, Take Me to the Alley (due to be released on the 6th May), he played over 15 songs during the evening’s repertoire. Gregory Porter certainly knows how to keep his audience satisfied and there were many whoops and whistles of appreciation throughout the evening.
“I hope you can feel the love coming across the stage tonight?” he tells the audience. He departs, leaving a clearly loved-up audience on their feet, applauding this extremely talented musician - including myself and Carol who, with a huge smile on her face, turned to me to say, “Dad would have loved that.”
For more information on Gregory Porter click here
You can sense how much pride Porter has not just for the music itself but also for each of his band members; especially when you catch him looking out at the audience as they each perform their solos, with the look of a proud and encouraging father.
With music from his 2014 Grammy winning album, Liquid Spirit as well as his new album, Take Me to the Alley (due to be released on the 6th May), he played over 15 songs during the evening’s repertoire. Gregory Porter certainly knows how to keep his audience satisfied and there were many whoops and whistles of appreciation throughout the evening.
“I hope you can feel the love coming across the stage tonight?” he tells the audience. He departs, leaving a clearly loved-up audience on their feet, applauding this extremely talented musician - including myself and Carol who, with a huge smile on her face, turned to me to say, “Dad would have loved that.”
For more information on Gregory Porter click here
Support Act
Kandace Springs
Kandace Springs
Supporting Gregory Porter is 27-year-old, Nashville born, Kandace Springs. She is certainly one to watch, with her very big hair, stunningly gorgeous features and with a tiny frame which completely belies her amazingly powerful voice. She has a vocal range and sound that gives you a touch of Ella but with the contemporary feel of Norah Jones.
Proving to be a perfect warm up act for Porter and instantly winning the affections of the audience, not only with her singing but with her unbelievable piano-playing skills, she sang 6 songs for us. I really loved Place to Hide which was written by Judie Tzuke and will be on Spring’s new album, due to be released on the 2nd July.
By the time she finished her set, with a spine-tingling version of Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, one of my all-time favourites, she had completely won me over and I can’t wait to see more of this fabulous lady in the future.
For more information on Kandace Springs check out her website here
Proving to be a perfect warm up act for Porter and instantly winning the affections of the audience, not only with her singing but with her unbelievable piano-playing skills, she sang 6 songs for us. I really loved Place to Hide which was written by Judie Tzuke and will be on Spring’s new album, due to be released on the 2nd July.
By the time she finished her set, with a spine-tingling version of Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, one of my all-time favourites, she had completely won me over and I can’t wait to see more of this fabulous lady in the future.
For more information on Kandace Springs check out her website here
Ask the Audience
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Carol Robinson, Wickford
“I thought Gregory Porter was absolutely fabulous. His voice is so smooth and he makes the songs sound so effortless. I was also surprised at the quality of the musicians both individually and as an ensemble. They were superb! There’s a big revival of jazz music right now and I think that if he’d done another night, that would’ve sold out too.” "I thought Kandace Springs was great. Such a lovely voice which put me in mind of Alicia Keyes a bit and what an amazing pianist!" |
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If you missed out at Southend you can see Gregory Porter at the following venues:
Wed April 6th 2016 - BRISTOL Colston Hall
Fri April 8th 2016 - MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall
Sat April 9th 2016 - SHEFFIELD City Hall
Sun April 10th 2016 - EDINBURGH Festival Theatre
Mon April 11th 2016 - ABERDEEN His Majestys Theatre
Tue April 12th 2016 - PERTH Concert Hall
Thu April 14th 2016 - GLASGOW Concert Hall
Fri April 15th 2016 - GATESHEAD Sage
Sat April 16th 2016 - LEICESTER De Montfort Hall
Sun April 17th 2016 - LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall
Tue April 19th 2016 - BRIGHTON Dome
Wed April 20th 2016 - CARDIFF St Davids Hall
Thu April 21st 2016 - POOLE Concert Hall
Fri April 22nd 2016 - PLYMOUTH Pavilions
Sun April 24th 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall
Wed April 6th 2016 - BRISTOL Colston Hall
Fri April 8th 2016 - MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall
Sat April 9th 2016 - SHEFFIELD City Hall
Sun April 10th 2016 - EDINBURGH Festival Theatre
Mon April 11th 2016 - ABERDEEN His Majestys Theatre
Tue April 12th 2016 - PERTH Concert Hall
Thu April 14th 2016 - GLASGOW Concert Hall
Fri April 15th 2016 - GATESHEAD Sage
Sat April 16th 2016 - LEICESTER De Montfort Hall
Sun April 17th 2016 - LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall
Tue April 19th 2016 - BRIGHTON Dome
Wed April 20th 2016 - CARDIFF St Davids Hall
Thu April 21st 2016 - POOLE Concert Hall
Fri April 22nd 2016 - PLYMOUTH Pavilions
Sun April 24th 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall