Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
An artist whose m
usic is at once timeless and yet utterly of its time, Gregory Porter solidifies his standing as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer with “Take Me to the Alley”, the much-anticipated follow-up to his sensational 2013 Blue Note debut. As he’s done with his previous three albums, Porter teamed up with producer Kamau Kenyatta to craft a collection of stirring originals that juxtapose the personal and political. His partnership with Kenyatta started in the mid-1990s when he was a student at San Diego State University, where Porter began his college years playing football on a full athletic scholarship. A shoulder injury diverted him into a music career and it was through Kenyatta’s mentorship that that professional career began. Recently, Porter moved his family from Brooklyn back to his hometown of Bakersfield, California, where he can be closer to his brothers and sisters.
Though a well-established member of New York’s jazz scene for the past 12 years, bassist and composer Marcos Varela looks to his family’s ancestral home of San Ygnacio, Texas, and his trek still in progress as inspiration for his debut recording, “San Ygnacio.” Mentors and brothers in music—including master drummer Billy Hart, pianist George Cables, saxophonist Dayna Stephens and trombonist Clifton Anderson—supply a warm depth of spirit to the collection. From his family’s move to present day Southern Texas from old-world Spain, his youth in Houston with its deep blues and church music influences, and his years in New York performing constantly with legendary masters and highly-regarded peers, the disc reveals elements of all those influences while offering an exciting introduction to a dynamic musical voice.
Also this week, the post-bop supergroup The Power Quintet, consisting of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Bill Stewart, cooks up a swinging brew of mostly original tunes on “High Art”; the Chicago-based group The Giving Trio, with a style and sound reminiscent of late ’50s and ‘60s cool-jazz and pop music, unveils its first full-length studio recording, “Defuser”.
The extraordinary Brazilian composer, arranger, pianist and educator Antonio Adolfo explores the splendid world of early 1960s jazz from a clearly Brazilian perspective on “Tropical Infinito.”