Date/Time
Date(s) - 08/18/2018
8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location
Davies Symphony Hall
Category(ies)
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Two-time GRAMMY-winner Gregory Porter sings the timeless songs of his greatest influence, Nat “King” Cole, in fresh arrangements by GRAMMY winner Vince Mendoza, re-creating the orchestral setting of Porter’s latest Blue Note album Nat “King” Cole & Me, accompanied by the Bay Area’s own Magik*Magik Orchestra under the direction of Mendoza himself. On the album, and for this exclusive evening, “Porter distills the wide-screen cinematic romance of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties, mantling his celebrated, honeyed baritone in glistening updrafts of strings, horns and woodwinds.” (Rolling Stone)
- Gregory Porter – vocals
- Jahmal Nichols – bass
- Emanuel Harrold – drums
- Albert “Chip” Crawford – piano
- Vince Mendoza – conductor
Porter broke through to mainstream stardom with his 2012 Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, followed by 2016’s follow-up Take Me to the Alley — both winners of the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Nat “King” Cole & Me features a selection of Cole’s timeless music interpreted through Porter’s supple phrasing and his signature tough but tender delivery. Raised in Bakersfield, Porter grew up with seven siblings who all sang and worked in their mother’s skid row mission. Upon hearing the young Porter’s first attempts at singing, his mother compared his son’s voice to Cole, who became a father figure to the budding artist. Porter told the The Guardian, “My father wasn’t in my life. Nat’s songs filled a void.”
The arrival of a great jazz artist with long range staying power… A major jazz talent.
– DOWNBEATA composer-arranger at the level of Gil Evans and the similarly eclectic Maria Schneider.
– JAZZTIMES ON VINCE MENDOZA