Japanese Translation Not Broadcast – Now Available!

Gregory Porter, an American jazz vocalist, made his solo debut in 2010 with the album "Water." Both of his released albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards, generating significant buzz.

He is a figure of interest not only to jazz and soul fans but also to club music listeners. In early March, he performed at Blue Note Tokyo and Cotton Club, and we conducted an exclusive interview with him during his first visit to Japan. He speaks extensively about his encounters with music in childhood, his journey to his debut, and his relationship with family and music.

A soul man with a heart larger than his physical presence, he answers each question with great care, sometimes even singing along. Immediately after these performances, he surprised us by announcing his contract with Universal Music France. OPENERS is now publishing the Japanese translation that was not broadcast.




REVIEW｜TRACK LIST




01.Salif Keita / Simby (Rice)★
02.Marc Mac / Front Line Colors (Omniverse)★
03.DJ DAY / Boots In The Pool (Piecelock 70)★
04.Gregory Porter / 1960 What? (Inpartmaint)★
05.Gregory Porter / Feeling Good (Momema)★
06.Gregory Porter / Painted On Canvas (Inpartmaint)★
07.Gregory Porter / On My Way To Harlem (Inpartmaint)★
08.Gregory Porter / Real Good Hands (Inpartmaint)★
09.Gregory Porter / Bling Bling (Inpartmaint)★
10.Gregory Porter / Be Good (Inpartmaint)★
11.The Rongetz Foundation / Go Go Soul (Heavenly Sweetness)★
12.Donny Hathaway / Someday We’ll All Be Free (Atco)★
13. Juju / Nia (Shout! Productions)
14. Heliocentrics / Descarga Electronica (Now Again)
15.The Sign of Four / Topsy Turvy (Jazzman)★
16. Itadi Bonney / Peace And Freedom (Hot Casa)
17.Judy Pollak featuring 331/3 / Come With Me (Chatswood)★
18. Shintaro Sakamoto / Kanashimi no Nai Sekai / World Without Sadness - You Ishihara Mix (zelone)

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This Week's "TOKYO MOON on iTunes"

You can purchase selected songs from those introduced so far here. Experience the joy of instantly acquiring songs that catch your ear. For our inaugural feature, we present love songs perfect for this season, as interpreted by three unique artists covering Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise."





Juliette Gréco / La Javanaise 2010.3.28 ON AIR
Anna Mouglalis / La Javanaise 2011.5.15 ON AIR
Lulu Gainsbourg & Richard Bona / La Javanaise 2012.5.6 ON AIR

Waiting to Arrive at "Ripe" Music

──Our guest today is jazz vocalist Gregory Porter, visiting from Brooklyn, New York.
It's a great pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me.

──This tour includes two venues: Blue Note Tokyo and Cotton Club. I attended the first night at Blue Note Tokyo, and it was magnificent. Before heading to the venue, I expected a performance that would be powerfully and soulfully intense. However, after watching it, I felt it was much more chicly composed than I had imagined. Was this a deliberate artistic choice?

Live performances are living things, and each has its own unique flow. The venue's structure, how the microphones pick up sound, the monitor mix, how the sound travels from the speakers... it all differs slightly depending on the place and the day's condition. But the feelings within me remain completely unchanged, no matter the environment. Even without singing at the top of my lungs to hype the crowd, the message gets across when it's meant to. The intention, what I hold dear, is conveyed.

──Your first album, "Water," was released in 2010. And your second album, "Be Good," was released last year. In Japan, both were released as compilation albums last year. "Water" was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards, and the track "Real Good Hands" from the second album was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance, generating considerable buzz, especially in your home country.

One of the essential aspects when discussing Porter is that despite his immense talent as a vocalist, he was a "late bloomer." What led to his debut?

I had been recording all along, releasing CDs, and actively involved in various activities, but I never felt the timing was "right." For example, even if I found someone to help with funding, the time still wasn't ripe. I waited for that moment, and it led to this timing. Of course, there's music that can only be written when you're young. But for me, I was waiting to arrive at music that could only be written by someone with a certain amount of life experience – "ripe" music.

Another reason for my late debut was that I was working in theater. I was on stage, receiving a salary, and having my insurance paid... so I couldn't just say, "I've decided to debut, so goodbye." After moving to New York, I was determined to focus solely on music. To do that, I decided to finish my role in the theater properly before making my debut.

Photo by Tsuneo Koga

──You just mentioned moving to New York, but Porter is originally from Los Angeles. How did he engage with music there? What kind of music did he hear around him when he was young?

My mother was the first to introduce me to music. We listened to Nat King Cole and gospel music together. As for Nat King Cole, I listened to him so much when I was about five or six that I thought he was my father (laughs). And my siblings and I would sing gospel music all the time.

A little later, when I started listening to the radio, I began hearing music from various artists who were popular at the time, like The Stylistics, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder.

Around the age of eight, we moved to a town called Bakersfield in Southern California. That's when things changed dramatically. The town had an atmosphere similar to the American South. Many African Americans had migrated from places where Southern culture, like that of Texas or Louisiana, thrived. Even within gospel music, I encountered styles with a strong Southern influence. If you were to categorize it, it was a mix of country, gospel, and blues. Some songs had a happy, upbeat tempo with a bluesy bassline. But the mainstream was deep, coming from the bottom of the heart. Through this new style of gospel, I learned about music that possessed a relaxed atmosphere.

Listening to Porter's voice, I sometimes see artists like Nat King Cole or Marvin Gaye appear like guardian spirits. After hearing your story, I finally understand why. What's wonderful about Porter is that while he evokes these influences, he has also forged his own unique style.

I don't think, "I want to be like Nat King Cole or Marvin Gaye," or "I want to sing like them." But I wonder what music they listened to, and how they built their own unique music. Tracing back to their origins, it leads to gospel, born from African American culture. In that sense, it's all connected. I draw inspiration from the same place.

Music is "My Heart Itself"

──Now, I'd like to ask you about the works you've released so far. First, "Water" from 2010. This album gives me the impression of a strong spiritual jazz tone, reminiscent of what "Black Jazz" (**) and Strata (※) – "jazz labels for Black people" – released in the 1960s and 70s. In contrast, your second album, "Be Good," released last year, feels like a work filled with a softer, gentler soul flavor. How do you yourself perceive the difference between these two albums?

※ Strata: A Detroit label that advocated for "jazz for Black people." It disbanded in 1975 after releasing six records.
※※ Black Jazz: An independent label for Black people founded in 1971. It released 20 records before disbanding in 1976. Its sometimes spiritual, sometimes funky worldview has been re-evaluated in the club scene in recent years.

With "Water," I felt I had to clearly state my message and what I wanted to convey. That's why songs like "1960 What?" and "Water," and all the other tracks, are about strong convictions, about what I want to say and assert. I take a similar approach with "Be Good," but as you mentioned, it feels a bit gentler. The message I want to convey hasn't changed much from the previous album. I want to pose the question, "What about it?" but the way I do it has become more gentle. Instead of saying it forcefully, I decided to change the way I express it.




And then there's "Bling Bling," which is my personal commentary on the music industry. Ten years ago, I wanted to sing but didn't have the environment for it, nor the money to produce CDs. I wanted to do many things, but the circumstances didn't allow it. I'm not criticizing people in the music industry, but they seem to focus on superficial trends, chasing after what's popular... This song expresses my long-held feelings: "Aren't they missing what's truly important to convey?"

──You mentioned children earlier; congratulations on the recent birth of your child! Do you feel that having a child has changed your musical activities?

Yes, it might have. Because I sing and write poetry about people's lives, if I consider myself a canvas already painted, then my child is a blank canvas, ready to have colors layered upon it. As they live, they will learn about their surroundings, race, and the world. When I write poetry imagining what they "see now" and what they "will see in the future," I feel I must focus on the fundamental aspects of things. For example, if an abstract painter draws a flower, even if it's not perfectly accurate, they can draw a few strokes and say, "This is a flower," and it's accepted as their expression of a flower. But for me, instead of singing about such abstract concepts, I've come to value and want to sing about the simple fact that when this child looks at someone's face, they are purely observing the eyes, nose, and contours of the face – the ordinary things.

──Finally, our customary question for the program: What does music mean to you? Please answer in one word. And if you had to choose one song that has had a particularly significant influence on you from the music you've encountered, whose song would it be and what would it be?



In cooperation with: Blue Note Tokyo

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This Week's "TOKYO MOON on iTunes"

You can purchase selected songs from those introduced so far here. Experience the joy of instantly acquiring songs that catch your ear. For our inaugural feature, we present love songs perfect for this season, as interpreted by three unique artists covering Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise."





Juliette Gréco / La Javanaise 2010.3.28 ON AIR
Anna Mouglalis / La Javanaise 2011.5.15 ON AIR
Lulu Gainsbourg & Richard Bona / La Javanaise 2012.5.6 ON AIR