We loved Gregory Porter’s Blue Note debut, Liquid Spirit, which seemed to effortlessly combine jazz with elements of gospel, funk and R&B. It was a big crossover hit, selling over one million units, and winning the singer a Grammy award for best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014. Last year was almost inevitably a year of transition; there was a remix album, Issues Of Life, which came out in late 2014, and a collaboration with Disclosure, a UK-based electronic act, which yielded the hit single, Holding On.
The follow-up studio album comes with high expectations, then. Perhaps wisely, Porter has kept most of the same ingredients. His band – pianist Chip Crawford, saxophonists Yosuke Sato and Tivon Pennicott, bass player Aaron James and drummer Emanuel Harrold – remain unchanged, as does producer Kamau Kenyatta. And yet, the recipe feels wrong. It’s not so much that Porter has over egged the pudding; it’s more as though he has chosen to serve only dessert, and left the starter and main course in the oven.
The gospel and funk have been heavily watered down this time; in fact, the horn section plays a far less significant role this time around. So too the jazz, leaving us with a beautifully produced R&B album, with Porter’s sumptuous voice front and centre. This would not matter so much if the songs were as strong as last time; but with a few notable exceptions, they’re not.
The album starts well enough with Porter’s own take on Holding On, which features Crawford’s gorgeous piano lines, and a tasty bass line, and nice muted trumpet solo, courtesy of Keyon Harrold. It’s better than the original, and as good as anything on Liquid Spirit. Don’t Lose Your Steam is up next; the organ and horn section give this song an earthy feel, but it sounds a little like a re-write of Musical Genocide. The title track is a lovely ballad – lyrically a little earnest, perhaps – but the backing vocal by Alicia Olatuja is just gorgeous.
Thereafter, the quality of the songwriting starts to slip. Day Dream is a mid-tempo track, but more MOR soul than jazz. Consequence Of Love is a great title, but the song doesn’t really live up to the billing, despite some fine piano from Crawford. Likewise More Than A Woman, which tries too hard to be as important as Just Like A Woman, and falls well short. In Fashion is the album’s weakest song – “you wear a hat with pretty swirls, the envy of the other girls,” anyone?
The remainder of the album is an uneven, patchy affair. The Fela Kuti-inspired French African Queen is probably the highlight. The ballad, Insanity, is a pleasant enough R&B ballad, but the ‘alternative’ version, included as part of the Deluxe package, was recorded as a duet with Lalah Hathaway, and is far better – so there’s really no need for both versions. Likewise, a second version of Holding On and two remixes of Don’t Lose Your Steam feel less like Deluxe, more like filler.
In years gone by, the sound of sirens might have reflected the fire services rushing to the scene as the Motor City burned. On this evidence, however, it might be the jazz police on their way with a warrant. Disappointing.
