Greetings Good Folks, Gregory Porter is on the hi-fi singing about liquid spirit and I’m all ears. Have you ever heard of him? He’s a vocalist that’s doing super well all around the jazz world right now and for an earlier spell he was hanging in San Diego. He even recorded over here at SpragueLand.
I love his music! What a sound! He plays mostly his own tunes and it’s a wonderful organic sound. His latest recording Liquid Spirit finds Gregory leading a great band and our very own Kamau Kenyatta arranged the horn parts. Soulful! I stumbled onto this YouTube vid of Gregory singing with the incredible Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam and man does it all come together. If you haven’t heard this orchestra you’ve got to check it out. This has to be one of the finest ensembles to bring together jazz and the orchestral sound. Add into the mix Gregory Porter’s vocals and it really moved me. Check it out: Last week we had a fun concert with Beth and the gang and the cool ongoing factor is I get to play some of the same tunes this week with our very own Blurring the Edges group. On Friday night at Grossmont College it’ll be Fred, Tripp, Gunnar and me exploring “Molecules”, “The Width of the World”, “The Keltic Kure”, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, and other lively selections. Big fun in east county! Loads of free parking and a nice listening setup. Hope to see you there! In a couple of weeks I’m heading to Europe for a tour with Dianne Reeves and the group. It’ll be my first time to visit the Canary Islands and I hear there’s surf. That’s where I’ll be right after the sound check and anyone got an extra wetsuit stashed over there? That’s it for now and thanks for reading. |
“Keltic Kure”
This track is from our Blurring the Edges recording Sombra. Fred composed it and it features Tripp on chromatic harmonica and flute. The piece has a celtic vibe and gradually morphs some jazz elements into the mix as the song unfolds. The highlight is where Fred and I trade off on the solo section, me with distortion and him on steel string acoustic. Super fun track! Check it out!