Gregory Porter Debuts ‘Revival’ Single And Video, Announces Sixth Album
‘All Rise’ will be the studio follow-up to 2017’s ‘Nat King Cole & Me,’ which debuted at No. 3 in the UK.
Internationally-acclaimed, two-time Grammy-winning jazz-soul vocalist Gregory Porter today (16) releases ‘Revival’ as his new single. He has also announced that his sixth album All Rise, on which it will feature, will follow on 17 April on Decca Records/Blue Note. Porter has also unveiled a striking video for ‘Revival,’ which you can see below.
All Rise is the studio follow-up to 2017’s Nat King Cole & Me, which debuted at No. 3 in the UK. The new set sees Porter returning to his own, original songwriting, with heart-on-sleeve lyrics reflecting everyday philosophy set to his usual stirring combination of jazz, soul, blues, and gospel.
‘All Rise’ is produced by Troy Miller, whose credits include Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum and Emeli Sandé, and represents Porter’s continuing evolution to the most emphatic yet intimate sound of his career.
“Yes, you could say that I went big,” says Gregory about the track, which features his regular, longtime bandmates, a hand-picked horn section and a ten-voice choir. “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 wrap onto the truth then this fearlessness comes.”
All Rise continues a story of unbroken success that began with Porter’s Liquid Spirit debut of 2013, which won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. “I was soothed by my voice as a child,” he says, reflecting on his huge popularity, “and I think that’s the same thing others get from it. I’m trying to heal myself with these songs.”
In 2019, the singer also launched and hosted his own podcast series, The Hang, which featured such guests as Annie Lennox, Jeff Goldblum, Don Was and British-Jamaican soul singer Celeste, subsequently named as the BBC’s Sound Of 2020. Porter also became the first celebrity to sing a lullaby on CBeebies Bedtime Stories.
Last September, Porter announced a 13-date tour of the UK to take place throughout May 2020. It will include four nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall, scene of his One Night Only album released in late 2018, on 19, 20, 22 and 23 May. It’s also newly announced that he will be guest curator at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, which he plays on 5 May. His selections include US vocalist-composer Lizz Wright, Chicago-based drummer-producer Makaya McCraven, American trumpeter Keyon Harrold and post-bop saxophonist-composer Gary Bartz.
All Rise is released on 17 April. Pre-order it here.
Listen to the best of Gregory Porter on Apple Music and Spotify.