Where to begin. This gig will live long in the memory. A world class artist at his peak playing to a crowd of no more than 250 in an intimate and welcoming venue. I was standing no more than 30 feet away from a genuine star. That's not to say that I was star-struck; had this been an average performance I'd have recognised and reported it as such without fear of contradiction. But of course it wasn't.
The band entered the stage at around 9-15pm to rapturous applause and rather than ignite them further with one of his best known hits Gregory Porter began with less familiar songs. It immediately struck me that this was a jazz band playing a jazz gig. The 'polished pop' production of the recordings was replaced with soul and authenticity that only a live performance can ever really completely capture. The first hit to be rolled out was 'Be Good' but even that seemed more raw, and all the better for it.
On another night alto sax player Yosuke Sato would have been the star of the show with his mesmerising solo breaks but when sharing the stage with other great musicians, most notably perhaps pianist Chip Crawford and with the man himself on vocals he could not possibly have upstaged his peers.
The band clearly revelled in playing to the relatively small audience in this cosy setting, Porter remarking that it seemed probably 'illegally full' (I'm reliably informed it was just legal). The crowd gave very vocal support and it seemed to raise the band and singer to great heights.
On 'Liquid Spirit' Porter even treated the throng to a little 'scatting'. Gregory Porter showed he's the master of all styles when singing a solo piano accompanied version of 'Water Under Bridges'. A gorgeous rendition of 'Real Good hands' also featured as one of my personal highlights and when the call and response of '1960 What' came around both singer and audience gave and received in equal good measure.
A first of two encores raised the roof (again) with the crowd joyfully singing along to 'Musical Genocide'. This was anything but.
Bets are off. Gig of the year.
Words and photo: Russell Poad
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