Gregory Porter en zijn strijd tegen een huidziekte

Gregory Porter On Channeling Nat King Cole: 'Nat Got Me Through Some Moments'

Jazz singer Gregory Porter and NPR's Audie Cornish at a live interview at NPR Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on June 27, 2018.

When Gregory Porter began his career as a jazz singer, he was told to start by covering the standards. But Porter diverted from the path most new jazz artists take and produced original albums instead. "When you have something to say, you can't really keep it down," he says.

Two of those original albums, Liquid Spirit and Take Me To The Alley, earned him a loyal fan base and two Grammys for best jazz vocal album in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Now, he's circling back to the standards through his musical idol Nat King Cole in his latest album Nat "King" Cole & Me.

As part of NPR's live interview series, Porter spoke to NPR's Audie Cornish about interpreting Cole's music as well as working with unexpected collaborators like electronic music duo Disclosure. Read the edited conversation below and hear their full conversation at the audio link.

Gregory Porter: This record — I don't want to sound insensitive — it's for you, but it's for me. Nat got me through some moments, you know what I mean? When my mother was sick, when she did pass, I went and re-medicated myself with his music. It has an important place in our household. I can smell the greens on the stove and the cornbread in the oven when I hear Nat's music. I wanted to have his music come through my body, come through my vocal cords, and sing it as an expression of appreciation for him.

Audie Cornish: Back during that time, and for some years after, there was criticism of Nat King Cole, right? People thought his music was saccharin, especially during the racial climate he was singing in. He got obviously a hard time from black audiences as well as white audiences for different reasons. So how does his music speak to you today?

Gregory Porter Mütze Produkt-Tipp

„Orchestermusik strahlt für mich eine große Schönheit aus.“

Auch sein aktuelles Projekt ist ein besonderes. Derzeit ist Gregory Porter mit seinem neuen Album „Nat King Cole & Me“ auf Tournee und machte unlängst in der Alten Oper Station. Nicht alleine, sondern mit dem Orchester Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, das seinen schlicht-schönen Interpretationen von Songs des Jazz-Musikers Nat King Cole den entsprechenden Klangkörper verlieh. „Orchestermusik strahlt für mich eine große Schönheit aus. Ein Orchester steigert und intensiviert die emotionale Idee eines Songs“, begründet Porter, warum er diese Zusammensetzung wählte.

„Lehnen Sie sich zurück, entspannen und genießen sie“, rät er dem Publikum am Anfang des Konzerts. Er selbst scheint jeden Ton, den er singt, auszukosten. Unter dem Schirm seiner Mütze schließt er immer wieder die Augen und schnippt bei den rhythmischeren Songs mit der rechten Hand mit oder gibt das Tempo vor.

Mit seinem Jazz-Trio, das bei manchen Stücken für das Orchester übernimmt, sei er flexibler und könne auch mal das Tempo anziehen, erklärt er. „Für mich ist der Auftritt mit beiden ein großes Vergnügen.“

Gerade mal einen Tag hatte das Sinfonieorchester mit Sitz am Offenbacher Capitol, das schon mit Stars wie David Garrett, José Carreras, Chris de Burgh oder Nena auftrat, Gelegenheit, die von Vincent Mendoza entwickelten Arrangements mit Gregory Porter zu proben. Eine Generalprobe vor Publikum in Paris gab ihnen die Gelegenheit, für die Premiere in Frankfurt perfekt zusammenzufinden.

The song I want played at my funeral

Nat King Cole – ‘Nature Boy’

“This song has influenced me so much in my own writing that it’s kind of a song that I wish I’d written. It’s so meaningful to me: ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn/Is just to love and be loved in return‘. I hope it would reference who I was as a person. I hope I’m that way in the remainder of my life – trying to provoke people to be the best that they can be and to be more generous, to look outside of yourself, to be caring and thoughtful.”

Gregory Porter’s first ever Christmas album, ‘Christmas Wish’, is out now via Blue Note/Decca Records

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