So good that we’ve extended it another month! Grammy Award winning vocalist Gregory Porter is showcasing why he’s one of the top male vocalist in music today on his brand new release for Blue Note Records.
"Take Me to the Alley" is an incredible release of impeccable lyricism, on a playlist of mostly original tunes by Porter. The album reads like a book of poems as Porter delivers a plea to his 4 year old son on “Don’t Lose Your Steam”, where he says, “I’m counting on you to get me to the other side”. Another tune that I’ve fallen in love with showcases Porter’s spiritual side on the title track of the project where the lyric reads, “Take me to the alley, take me to the afflicted ones”. The added bonus is that Porter goes old school having all of the lyrics to these tunes inside of the liner notes.
Porter delivers two selections in two different ways on the cuts “Hold On” and “Insanity.” “Hold On” was first released by the British dance duo as a remix on their Disclosures album, which was backed by a pretty hard house music beat. On this release it’s a ballad, played first with straight ahead notes and then near the end of the album as a duo with R & B vocalist Kem. The other tune delivered twice is Insanity, in which the second time around is a duet with the lovely and warm voice of Lalah Hathaway.
You can’t go wrong with anything on this album. I found myself selecting nearly every track for airplay. So tune in all month long to hear various selections from the latest CD of vocalist Gregory Porter, Take me To the Alley, as it’s our CD of the month hear on your source for Cool Jazz & More, WEAA. 88.9FM.
