Kandace Springs - support act, Gregory Porter, Bristol, 6th April

I will be reviewing Gregory Porter's outstanding show last night a little later, but first a mention of the support act Kandace Springs who in a short set demonstrated what a huge talent she is. Set up for Porter's performance, Kandace played at Chip Crawford's grand piano which meant she had to play with her back to the audience. Odd and annoying. But all the more remarkable that she still captivated with her soulful vocal as well as excellent piano playing, here jazz infused and supported by double bass and drums for this trio presentation. I have been researching Springs on YouTube this morning and she sings well beyond jazz, with what seems a more prevalent leaning to soul with funk and some hip hop: the set at Daryl Hall's home - with the great man himself - is impressive. It's all impressive, as was last night's talent taster. Looking forward to her album Blue Eyes in July. Kandace performed First Time I Ever Saw Your Face last night - a sweet and affecting delivery. What a salutary reminder to never miss the support.....

Gregory Porter – Be Good

He Can Be Bad Too

Porter’s second release after the excellent debut Water arcs again across the soulful to explosive jazz in a collection swelled with beautifully sung ballads to the scat blitz of his wilder moments.

Opener Painted On Canvas is as tender as touch, the vocal caressing around gentle piano chords and playing lyrically with the colours of what makes us who we are. Title track Be Good is playful too in its simple tune and the lyric she says lions are made for cages just to look at if you like/you dare not let them walk around cause they might just bite/she knows what she does as when she dances around my cage and says her name/be good, be good – the metaphor of the lion teased and tamed in this relationship bolstered by a seductive alto sax solo by Yosuke Sato.

Third track On My Way To Harlem is an upbeat homage to the influence and inspiration of Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Marvin Gaye: I so could use some of those blues from Langston Hughes. His supporting band plays an energetic set for this spirited track. Fourth song Real Good Hands has a wonderful spoken opening that evokes soul numbers of the sixties, and the sung assurances to the parents that he will look after their daughter seem equally anachronistic but totally believable in their polite promises, including I wanna make your daughter my wife.

Seventh, the Webster/Fain Imitation of Life, is a classic piano-led jazz ballad that presents Porter’s vocal in all its simple and gentle eminence. This is followed by another sweet offering, Mother’s Song, which is a warm and heartfelt tribute invoking traditional sensibilities of honour, trust and blessing. Ninth Our Love keeps the mood mellow and romantic.

It’s tenth Bling Bling that launches Porter’s scat attack, and as with similar vocables in Water it reminds me of that other expert of vocalese, Kurt Elling. The band again empathises with some raunchy playing, Tivon Pennicott’s tenor saxophone screaming its part in the conversation.

The album ends on two classics. Penultimate track Ned Adderly’s Work Song gets a lively workout, Pennicott and Sato again laying down some scorching sax strides. Closer is a gorgeous a cappella version of God Bless The Child. This is pure and perfect. No acrobatics here, but it is truly moving with its emotive delivery.

Porter is apparently most popular in Europe but particularly here in the UK. He appeared in the 2011/12 Jools Holland Hootenanny and was, for me, the most distinguished performer in a show that is getting a little tired, though Holland's Later is still brilliant at introducing acts on television, as with Porter when he released Water. Porter did receive a Grammy nomination for that album. Whatever the wider acknowledgements and accolades, he is without doubt a great performer and this latest release is a superb addition to his art.

Gregory Porter - Water

Imposing

Last night's Later With Jools Holland played host to a cameo by Gregory Porter with a fuller sampling to be aired on Friday's lengthier version, or you can access a BBC online offering of Jools and Gregory rehearsing together.

Porter is an imposing figure - he had a college scholarship as a linebacker - and his voice is the significant part of that presence. The album Water is a wonderful collection of jazz standards and self-penned tracks like '1960 What?' which evokes civil rights unrest in 60s Detroit and, on a wider arc, the killing of Martin Luther King: it is more soul vocal than jazz and its politically charged narrative is delivered over 12 minutes of hypnotic thrust and repetition.

Opener 'Illusion' establishes Porter's fine jazz vocal, and the subsequent 'Pretty' introduces the scatting - only an occasional feature - that echoes Kurt Elling, as well as instrumental support from a collection of excellent musicians including saxophonist James Spaulding.

Another self-penned song, the title track 'Water', presents Porter's craft as lyricist with its metaphoric thread, and the album finishes as it should on an acappella performance of the standard 'Feeling Good', sealing the vocal imposition of this big and talented artist.