Gregory Porter: Take Me To The Alley (2LP) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves. It won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Porter's second, and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis made it his album of the week.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeves
• Pressed in the EU
• Lyrics included
• Stereo mix

About the album

Gregory Porter came to singing the long way round: a football scholarship at San Diego State, a shoulder injury, then years cooking and singing at his brother's Brooklyn restaurant before a weekly residency at St. Nick's Pub in Harlem. By his fourth album he was a Blue Note star with a voice The Daily Telegraph likened to cream.

Porter produced it with arranger Kamau Kenyatta, recording at Sear Sound in New York and Capitol Studio B in Hollywood in the autumn of 2015. "Holding On" revisits his song with Disclosure in a warmer jazz setting, "Don't Lose Your Steam" and "Consequence Of Love" glow with Kenyatta's horn arrangements, "Day Dream" and "In Heaven" slow things to a hush, and "French African Queen" swings out at the end.

He took the songs to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury that June, quite the step up from a neighbourhood restaurant. Mind you, we suspect the food was better at Bread-Stuy.

Also at Kops: more Gregory Porter on vinyl · browse Vocal Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note / Decca, the 2016 album.