Gregory Porter (USA) • Christmas Jazz 2023

Two Grammy Awards, seven Grammy nominations and sold-out stadium concerts around the world: American singer-songwriter Gregory Porter, one of the world’s absolute top jazz singers who has unreservedly won the hearts of audiences worldwide is coming to Estonia again.

Gregory Porter’s music interweaves jazz, soul and gospel. He excels in both original compositions and interpretations, having dedicated an entire album to the repertoire of Nat King Cole, among other things. However, it is with his original songs that Porter has achieved worldwide fame – with breakthrough albums Liquid Spirit and Take Me to the Alley, and songs like Laura, Be Good, Revival and Real Good Hands that have been listened to tens of millions of times.

There is always something conciliatory and reassuring in Porter’s music and style, even when he is singing about troubling subjects like obsessive love, concern for the future of music or a universal need for freedom. Porter can be expressive in an introverted way and softly spontaneous; his baritone can make muted trumpet sound like his blood brother. His inner peace and music form a common circuit in which there is no need to distinguish which causes which. Despite his above-average modesty (or perhaps precisely because of it?) his popularity has grown from basement bars to stadium concerts. Nonetheless, Porter still occasionally seeks out smaller places, like Estonia at the invitation of Jazzkaar, performing here for the third time already.

Line-up:
Gregory Porter – vocal
Chip Crawford – piano
Emanuel Harrold – drums
Tivon Pennicott – saxophones
Jahmal Nichols – duble bass
Ondrej Pivec – Hammond organ