Take Me To The Alley (Deluxe Edition) Gregory Porter

• 1 Holding On 05:02
• 2 Don't Lose Your Steam 03:18
• 3 Take Me To The Alley 05:17
• 4 Day Dream 03:52
• 5 Consequence Of Love 03:20
• 6 In Fashion 04:35
• 7 More Than A Woman 03:31
• 8 In Heaven 04:18
• 9 Insanity 05:37
• 10 Don't Be A Fool 04:32
• 11 Fan The Flames 04:12
• 12 French African Queen 03:45
• 13 Holding On (feat. Kem) 04:16
• 14 Insanity (feat. Lalah Hathaway) 05:03
• 15 Don't Lose Your Steam (Aufgang Remix) 03:27
• 16 Don't Lose Your Steam (Fred Falke Remix) 03:13
• Total Runtime 01:07:18

Info for Take Me To The Alley (Deluxe Edition)

Grammy award-winning Gregory Porter returns with Take Me to the Alley, the much-anticipated follow-up to his 2013 Platinum album Liquid Spirit. The coolest guy in music, the album features a reworked version of ‘Holding On’, the track Gregory co-wrote with electronic act Disclosure, as well as autobiographical songs including ‘Don’t Lose Your Steam’ and title track ‘Take Me To The Alley’, both written with his family in mind.

In the Fall of 2015 Porter finally found the time to return to the studio in New York City to record Take Me To The Alley. As he's done on his previous three albums, Porter teamed with producer Kamau Kenyatta to craft a collection of stirring originals that juxtapose the personal and political.

Gregory Porter
Raised in California, Porter’s mother was a minister, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound, as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound. Porter began singing in small jazz clubs in San Diego while attending San Diego State University on a football scholarship, where he played outside linebacker. Eventually it was music that Porter chose to pursue full-time at the encouragement of local musicians including his mentor Kamau Kenyatta.

Kenyatta invited Porter to visit him in the studio in Los Angeles, where he was producing flutist Hubert Laws' album Remembers the Unforgettable Nat King Cole. When Laws overheard Porter singing along while he was tracking the Charlie Chaplin song "Smile," he was so impressed with the young singer that he decided to include Porter on the album.

Another fortunate twist of fate was the presence that day of Laws' sister, Eloise, a singer who was soon to join the cast of a new musical theater production It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues. Porter had minimal theatrical experience but was cast in one of the show’s lead roles when the play opened in Denver, and he eventually followed it to Off-Broadway and then Broadway, where The New York Times, in its 1999 rave review, mentioned Porter among the show's "powerhouse line up of singers.” It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues went on to earn both Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations that year.

Porter eventually put down roots in Brooklyn, and in 2010 released his debut album Water (Motéma Music), which earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. His sophomore album Be Good (Motéma Music) followed in 2012 and earned him his second GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Despite having now recorded or shared the stage with the likes of Van Morrison, Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Nicola Conte, Christian McBride, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams and David Murray, Porter remains grounded and humbled by all the new accolades. “Sometimes I haven’t had a chance to absorb and enjoy some of the audiences that I’ve been in front of, especially some of the icons of the music like Wynton and Herbie,” Porter says, “And they give me so much open-arm love; I couldn’t fathom that two years ago.” With the release of Liquid Spirit, Porter’s soaring career will surely ascend even higher.

Booklet for Take Me To The Alley (Deluxe Edition)