An evening with Gregory Porter at Durham Performing Arts Center

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, 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. Eventually he moved to New York City to pursue music full-time and his career began to ascend with the release of his first two albums - Water (2010) and Be Good (2012) - both of which received GRAMMY nominations. In 2013, he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which quickly grew into a global phenomenon, selling more than a million albums and earning Porter his first GRAMMY Award with NPR declaring him "America's Next Great Jazz Singer." His 2016 follow-up Take Me To The Alley won him his second GRAMMY for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation's most soulful jazz singer-songwriter...

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Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, 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. Eventually he moved to New York City to pursue music full-time and his career began to ascend with the release of his first two albums - Water (2010) and Be Good (2012) - both of which received GRAMMY nominations. In 2013, he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which quickly grew into a global phenomenon, selling more than a million albums and earning Porter his first GRAMMY Award with NPR declaring him "America's Next Great Jazz Singer." His 2016 follow-up Take Me To The Alley won him his second GRAMMY for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation's most soulful jazz singer-songwriter.

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