SFJAZZ presents Gregory Porter
2015-01-14
Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
Late Show, 9:30 PM, Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[9:30 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [9:30 PM] On My Way to Harlem
2. [9:39 PM] Musical Genocide
3. [9:4m PM] Liquid Spirit
4. [9:51 PM] Hey Laura
5. [9:55 PM] Sen~or Blues
6. [10:00 PM] Illusion
7. [10:07 PM] Oh, Alberta »
8. [10:11 PM] Work Song
9. [10:20 PM] I Fall in Love Too Easily
10. [10:26 PM] 1960 What?
11. [10:35 PM] Be Good (Lion's Song)
    [set ends 9:44 PM]
     
    Encore
12. [10:45 PM] Free
    [show ends 10:58 AM]

• Chip Crawford: piano;
• Emanuel Harrold: drums;
• Aaron James: bass;
• Gregory Porter: vox;
• Yosuke Sato: alto saxophone.

Would been a pleasurable trip over tonight except the cussed CalTrans decision to close two westbound lanes on the bay bridge resulted in a massive clusterf#@k for two thirds of the span. Naturally, they weren't doing any actual work just yet, just inconveniencing everyone. Fortunately, this simply cut down on our pre-show spare time, and as we found a parking space immediately all turned out well enough.

The house was only moderately full when we took our seats about 10 minutes before show time, but a huge crowd streamed in following the opening tune, On My Way to Harlem, prompting Porter to tease folks about the proper way to sneak into church when you arrive late for the service (“you walk kinda slumped and slinky to atone for it, but you hold your index finger high up in the air as if to say 'Lord, I'm here'”). Porter ought to know – in 1981 he was ordained at 13 years old as a minister for the Church of God in Christ in Washington, DC – and in 1996 he was promoted to Bishop within the national organization – not bad. It's entirely possible (likely, even!) that I'm mixing up two different Gregory Porters as my research was admittedly scanty, but it reads good, right? And Porter the jazz singer certainly was raised within the Church of God in Christ, so for now, I'm sticking with my conflation! A few minutes later, Porter told another rambling story – this one about lessons learned from a 90-year old elder at a church in Bakersfield when he was a young boy, and how he basically had a master class in traditional gospel singing from this man, Elder Russo (sp?). From where he launched into Liquid Spirit, a fabulous tune from his latest release.

Later in the set, the conjunction of Alberta and Work Song did well to show the roots of the latter tune, as well as reminding me how I ought to follow up on my long neglected mission of exploring the classics of the late 50's and 60's jazz masters more deeply, the better to be able to ID those tunes when they surface in current repertoire.

I wasn't familiar enough with Porter's body of work to recognize the last few tunes, but I enjoyed hearing them unfold, and I look forward to seeing Porter again the next time he swings through town.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!