Undeniably one of the best voices of our generation, Grammy award-winning singing sensation Gregory Porter has made his eagerly awaited return to the studio with the release of his sixth studio album All Rise, out today.
All Rise marks a return to Gregory’s much loved, heart-on-sleeve lyrics imbued with everyday philosophy and real-life detail, set to a stirring mix of jazz, soul, blues, and gospel.
Produced by Troy Miller (Calvin Harris, Rag'n'Bone Man, Amy Winehouse), this record also represents the evolution of Porter's art to something even more emphatic, emotive, intimate, and universal too. After Nat King Cole & Me, Porter knew two things: one, he'd bring in an orchestra for his next LP, and, two, music is medicine. In the spirit of that latter revelation, All Rise brims with songs about irrepressible love, plus a little protest, because the road to healing is bumpy.
Of the first singe and title track, Porter says, “For me, it’s the message of walking into this life and having some fear and self-doubt, and the point where you grab onto something that you know is real, the silent and real things, the truth… Once you can grab onto the truth then this fearlessness comes.”
Here is a stripped down, live performance of the song.
Since his world-beating 2013 Blue Note debut, ‘Liquid Spirit’, which won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Gregory hasn't let down his legion of fans, whether collaborating with Disclosure on ‘Holding On’, releasing his dance hit ‘Liquid Spirit – Claptone Remix’ which became one of the most popular tracks in Ibiza, scoring another Grammy for ‘Take Me to the Alley’ (2016), or telling his life story through Cole's songbook. Porter is still surprised by his runaway success, but he has a theory: "I was soothed by my voice as a child and I think that's the same thing others get from it. I'm trying to heal myself with these songs."