# Gregory Porter has a long history with vocal legend Nat “King” Cole: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/10/08/gregory-porter-long-history-vocal-legend-nat-king-cole-video/
- Published: 2017-10-08T00:52:26+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Grammy-winning vocalist Gregory Porter has a long history with vocal legend Nat“
King” Cole, dating back to Porter’s semi-autographical musical, _Nat King Cole &
Me_, which made its world premiere in Denver in 2004. **

But even before Porter was an emergent theater star and international jazz celebrity,
he recalls being enamored with Cole’s enveloping vocal style. He thinks back on 
his first encounter with Cole’s music fondly.

“I remember thinking how strange that name was, going through her records, and first
seeing his image: this elegant, handsome, strong man sitting by a fire, looking 
like somebody’s daddy,” said Porter. “Then I put the vinyl on the player and out
of those speakers came that voice, that nurturing sound.”

Now, Porter will pay homage to that nurturing sound with the release of a new album,
also titled _Nat King Cole & Me_, due Oct. 27 on Blue Note Records. The album is
a heartfelt tribute to an artist whose music had a tremendous impacted Porter’s 
life.

“It filled a void in me,” said Porter. “My father wasn’t in my life; he wasn’t raising
me; he wasn’t showing any interest in me. So Nat’s words, “pick yourself up, dust
yourself off, start all over again”—all of these life lessons and words of wisdom
were like fatherly advice. They were coming out of the speakers like Nat was singing
those words just to me. I would listen to his albums and imagine that Nat was my
father.”

Last week, Porter released “L-O-V-E,” the second single from his forthcoming album.
The track features Porter’s warm, resonant vocals and a brilliant trumpet solo by
Terence Blanchard, backed by a lissome rhythm section of pianist Christian Sands,
bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Ulysses Owens. The song, which you can stream 
below, was written by Milt Gabler and Bert Kampfert and was featured as the title
track of Cole’s 1965 album on Capitol Records.

Other Cole classics appearing on the album include “Smile,” “Mona Lisa,” “Nature
Boy” and “The Christmas Song,” with orchestration provided by six-time Grammy-winning
arranger Vince Mendoza and the London Studio Orchestra.

Porter said he chose the program for this disc based on his own personal history
with Cole.

“I went about selecting the songs like I always do—first in a very emotional way,”
Porter said. “I just gathered the songs that meant something to me over the years.
There was a period in college when I had an injury to my shoulder and I needed music
to soothe me at that time. So I ended up going back to Nat’s records. Then I did
the same thing during the passing of my mother. In a way, there’s a familiarity 
and a calming effect to Nat’s music. Recording Nat’s music was very personal because
I could hear and feel my mother. And I still feel myself searching for my father.”

_Nat King Cole & Me_ is the follow-up to Porter’s Grammy-winning Blue Note album
_Take Me To The Alley_, which placed third in the Jazz Album category of the 2016
Downbeat Readers Poll. Porter also topped the Male Vocalist category in that year’s
Readers and Critics Polls.

![Image](https://i0.wp.com/downbeat.com/images/news/_full/image006.jpg?w=640)

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