Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He's won two Grammy Awards for Best Vocal Album. Porter is bringing his "Love is King" tour to Charlotte in February. Ahead of that, Eric Teel, WFAE's program director, talked with Porter about the tour, his music and his influences.
This transcript was edited lightly for clarity.
Eric Teel: Thank you so much for carving out a few minutes to speak with me today. I appreciate it.
Gregory Porter: Yeah, glad to be with you, man.
Teel: You are coming to Charlotte for a performance Feb. 10. It's a Tuesday night at Ovens Auditorium. Part of your “Love is King Tour.” We are in a time right now in the world where love is perhaps not at the top of people's list. Talk about the significance of naming the tour “Love Is King.”
Porter: Yeah, well, just this idea of finding the spaces and places that we can all agree on. I'm pulling these songs from music that I've already done, that I've already recorded. Also, a couple of additional standards, covers that speak to this idea of a universal love, a love of people, love of place, this kind of agape love that my mother used to speak about. So yeah, that's the vibe. But it's a cross-section of all my music from all of my records that come to this point of when love was king.
Teel: What does it make you feel when you're described as a jazz singer? Does it feel like the right clothes or someone else's attire?
Porter: Yeah, well, because I'm using all of the devices, quite frankly, I call them the cousins of jazz, that all grew up in the same house in a way. It's in a way the diaspora of, you know, of Black American music, gospel, blues, soul, you know, these musics, I mixed them together. This is, in my house, this is in my mother's gospel, my older brother's soul music. I loved Nat King Cole, you know, and we all love Michael Jackson. So, you know, I'm not saying I'm pulling any Michael Jackson into my show, but, yeah, I love Bill Withers. I love Donny Hathaway. And I'm informed by their music as well as the music of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. So, it's quite a mix to me. I am firmly rooted in the jazz tradition. I consider myself a jazz singer using the devices of these other, yeah, other genres.
Teel: There's a jazz vocalist from the past that I adore, who I feel is similar in that jazz adjacent kind of place, Johnny Hartman. He was an incredible song stylist. He wasn't much of an improviser. He was an interpreter, but just also had that incredible resonant, low, booming, warm voice.
Porter: Yeah, wow, Johnny Hartman. The thing is about Johnny Hartman is, and this is the thing about music, period, the idea that anything that Johnny Hartman has ever recorded is to think that that's the sum total of who he is would be wrong. I saw him singing the blues on a TV show one time. And I was like, that's as funky and as soulful as Jimmy Witherspoon. But he doesn't have it recorded. You know, that's the unfortunate thing about his career, is like there wasn't more and there should have been.
But yeah, I think I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to, quite frankly, the way that I feel or hear a song that comes to me, that's the way I record it. I don't say at the beginning of a recording cycle, I say, OK, I need to write, you know, 10 songs that (sings a little rhythmic pattern), I don't do that. You know, if I'm (sings “Un-reroute the river, Let the damn water be…) If that comes to me that way, that's the way I record it. Now, there is this other thing that happens with my music, which is, you know, if I collaborate with a DJ or if my music is remixed, then it becomes a whole ‘nother thing. But yeah, I generally like to stay within this place where whatever I'm writing can still be interpreted in a jazz essence, yeah.
Teel: Can you think back to the moment when you realized that you didn't just like singing or weren't just good at singing or it didn't give you personal pleasure, but that it is who you were and what you were going to do and pursue and spend your life's energy on?
Porter: Yeah, after college, I'd had some experiences just in music and in theater and expressing myself on stage. And quite frankly, it came from the audience. The audience coming to me, and it's like, I don't know what it is I feel. I don't know why I'm crying. I don't know why, you know, they would just express themselves in these ways consistently, over and over again. And I said to myself, you know, yes, I went to college. Yes, there's other things I could be doing, but quite frankly, this is the best thing that I do. And that's, that's what my mother said before she died. And I, you know, her voice ringing in my ear, and sometimes it takes a bit of building momentum in order for you to accept the fact that you're on this artistic journey. Whatever it brings you, poverty or success, this is the journey that you're going to be on. And so, yeah, it would have been after college, and it would have been from the audience, just these experiences I kept having, yeah.
Teel: There were a couple of albums that you released, 2010 and 2012, “Water and Be Good,” and then “Liquid Spirit” came out. And this was what, 2013, Blue Note Records, if memory serves. In the last 30 years, there have been a couple of monumental albums in the jazz sphere. One of them, “Come Away with Me,” Norah Jones, best-selling quote-unquote jazz album since “Bitches Brew,” probably. Miles Davis. “Liquid Spirit” is claimed to be the most-streamed jazz album of all time. How does that sit with you?
Porter: (Laughing) It's crazy. I happen to be fortunate enough to be, for it to be right at the moment of streaming, but also, there was — with that album — there was some songs that captured people in this interesting way. However simple, however, what, it just touched people. And not just in one place, in many places around the world. And so, I'm grateful to that. I'm grateful to that and thankful. But it did happen.
I remember going into radio stations, jazz stations, and, you know, at different increments of the sales, they were like, you didn't sell 100,000 records. That's the record company playing. And I was like, no, we did that in a few weeks. Yeah, that happened. 200,000? No, a million? You didn't sell a million racks. It did. It sold a million records. So that kept happening and it did happen. I'm still living off of that album and the energy from that record. Yeah, that's good.
Teel: You have also dipped your toe into that world of performing with strings. A lot of jazz singers over the decades, all the way back to Ella and company, have recorded records with strings. Many do, not all succeed. And I think you've performed with the Metropole Orchestra, if I'm remembering right. What's the right mix when you work with a full orchestra to add that additional sonic palette to your music or other jazz music?
Porter: The arranger being considerate of what it is you were trying to achieve initially. If it's, if the orchestra, like the Metropole Orchestra, if I'm playing with them, I remember with all of the arrangers, because there were several, and with the conductor, Jules Buckley, I think that the first thing we talked about was “What's the vibe of this tune? What do you mean? What are you saying?” And that's the way that they approached the arrangements. And so, working with them is cool because they're in between that space of jazz and classical.
But on the other hand, when you're starting a project off initially with the idea of working with the orchestra all along, like say when I worked with Vince Mendoza for “Nat King Cole and Me,” then whatever it is that we do is whatever will be. And so, we considered the music that Nat King Cole had done, and also thinking of what I wanted to do at the time, which was honor his music, yet put myself into the story as well. Quite frankly, it's one of my favorite recordings on that record, is the song “When Love Was King.” I was writing a song in the idea of writing a song for Nat King Cole. He died well before I was born, but a song that speaks to love in that way that “Nature Boy” does. So, it was a tribute song to him, a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, and quite frankly, my mother as well.
Teel: OK. So where is home for you these days?
Porter: New York and California. My home base is in California. Bakersfield, California. But we have a place in New York and my kids are going to school here in New York. But quite frankly, we're flexible. We jump back and forth. And my kids travel a lot. They're on the road a lot with me as well.
Teel: What is the United States like for a jazz singer? I look at your tour routing and I see Milan, Paris, Tokyo, etcetera. What's it like here at home to carve out tour dates and play for American audiences?
Porter: The interesting thing is that — and this may sound strange — but Europe and, even places further flung, quite frankly, they book further in advance. And they also, there's a, maybe a, sometimes a greater deal of financial appreciation, maybe because they know that you're traveling. So, that being said, I'm speaking completely honestly now, I still do a lot of dates in the U.S., but a lot of times a promoter or a venue will call me and the date is already taken. Just based on the timing. There's, and what's the other consideration? I think I've had, quite frankly, I've had a lot of success in the U.S. as well. And so, there's no complaints. I still generally sell out when I'm playing in the U.S. Most times I sell out. So, I mean, there's no complaints, but I think, just thinking of the mechanism, they book further in advance and a bit more quickly in Europe.
Teel: Is there a different response from the audience, either emotionally or familiarity with the songs, with your repertoire?
Porter: Well, quite frankly, also in Europe and other places, this separation and delineation of genres is not so prevalent. They will play the record version of one of my songs on regular radio. And so, people come to me that way. Also, yes, I do have remixes and radio edits and radio versions of my songs, but the standard version of, you know, “I Fall In Love Too Easily” will still make it onto regular radio, which is odd in some ways. And I think there's something in my voice that allows for that, but that happens. So that's been good for me.
There's a hardcore line that happens here, and I'm thankful to public radio, quite frankly, here in the U.S. and jazz radio. And in Germany and in the U.K. for sure, I am, I'm on these shows or television shows that quite frankly, that put me in front of, you know, the popular audience. I remember doing shows with Ed Sheeran, you know, or Sam Smith. So, I remember being in the U.S. one time and I was walking in New York and somebody was like, “Are you that guy that was singing with Sam Smith?” And I said “Yes, that was me just a few days ago.” And then he pointed at my face and said, “You’re a liar.” I was like, “Really?”
Teel: One of my favorite shows is Jules Holland. And it's for that reason. He puts people from very disparate genres in front of a popular audience and says, look, you need to know these people exist.
Porter: Yeah. Well, he broke me in the U.K., quite frankly. I was on there and I sang the most unlikely of song that would capture his audience, which was “Illusions,” a ballad, a love ballad about a broken heart. And that really set me on firm footing. So, the funny thing that happened with my touring there, it's like the middle, the middle level jazz club completely I kind of leapfrogged. I was doing a 100-seat place called Pizza Express. They sell pizza and they have a great jazz club in the basement. I went from there to a 1,000-seater. And then after that, shortly thereafter that was Royal Albert Hall, which is 5,000 seats. And I do that consistently now there. Wow.
Teel: So, you've talked about the touring, right? Touring in the States, touring around the globe. What's your feeling on the state of music creation in 2026? Is it still a viable path for creative, talented individuals? Is it too congested? Is it too disseminated now? Like, how do you feel about it?
Porter: You know, I worry about it because I'm in it. I'm still actively in it. And I think the angst that AI is creating, the angst that, as you put it, the proliferation and the easily accessible kind of everything does make for some difficulty, but also it may sharpen our senses. It may sharpen our ability or our desire to hear more organic humanity. This is my hope. This idea that people are worried that AI is going to take over. And quite frankly, I've heard some AI recordings of some soul songs, and I'm like, “Gee, we might be doomed!” And people have sent me things that I'm like, I'm sure they used my voice. Because I was like, “That's me! That sounds like me!” So, the verdict is out. But it's my thought that I think it will sharpen our sense and our desire for a more organic and a more human kind of a hand-made approach to music. It may change the way we do things. I mean, it may, you know, our ears have developed to hear a repetition. So, it might be a thing to where the songs become so unique, it can't help but be a human. I don't know what it's going to do, but I'm going to try to maintain the organic human touch that I have in my music.
Teel: You've been now on the scene publicly for the better part of 15 years now, right? Put out seven records, something like that. But you are nowhere near the end of your amazing career. And I say that a little bit because you and I are the same age, and I know I'm not near the end of what I want to do professionally. So as you look forward to new records or new projects or new collaboration efforts, are you more driven by creating your own music, writing songs, or by being a song catcher, discovering hidden gems and helping widen the view for amazing things that you've discovered along the way?
Porter: You know, I think my process has been to look inside of myself and be an observer and try to express that in melody and poetry. And this has been my process. And that's what intrigues me, and this is what I love. So, I think I'm going to continue on that track. The funny thing is, I've often said to my record company, I said, “Send me some of those songwriters.” Send me, I always expected, you know, this is what I said, I always expected to get a bunch of songs and, you know, from different songwriters. But I was like, I told my record company, I said, “That's never happened.” And they said to me, it's like, “Well, you kept supplying us with good songs. So, you're the songwriter.” So, I was like, “Yeah, you're right.” Yeah, so that's been better for me. It's been put, you know, it puts the onus and the pressure on me to come up with what it is that I want to say. And that probably, quite frankly, those two first two records that you mentioned, “Water and Be Good,” it kind of gave me a signature. I had no record company pressure. Only the sense was that I should record a bunch of standards. But there wasn't pressure. There was just the like, “Is that what you're going to do?” And I was like, “We'll see.” And all of these originals came out. And quite frankly, it was the originals, the original sound, original writing. whether it be “Illusions” or “1960 What?” that got people's attention. And I've stayed on that track.
Teel: When you were here last year or the year before, you played Belk Theater. And you had a combo on stage. Your saxophone player was much more of an aggressive hard blower. And it was a real like counter to your general delivery style. What do we get to expect for the “Love is King tour”? Same group?
Porter: Same group, but you picked up on something that is purposeful. This idea that there is a separation between those conversations. This is a thing that I'm trying to say with the music. With the juxtaposition. These voices, these characters have grown up in the same place and they belong together. They're just different voices. And I like to hear these soulful sounds next to something that is more reminiscent to bebop. And then we may go into something that's more akin to a spiritual jazz. And then there's gospel. And so even the sound of bebop next to the gospel sound is... There's all kinds of subtle things that are exciting us. And hopefully, it's transferring to the audience as well.
Teel: I'm so grateful to have time to speak with you.
Porter: Yeah, thank you so much. Appreciate it, man.
Gregory Porter's "Love is King" tour will be at Charlotte's Ovens Auditorium, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. Get tickets here.
