PORTER, GREGORY / CLAPTONE - LIQUID SPIRIT REMIXED

Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley.[2] Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento and was raised in Bakersfield, California, where his mother was a minister. A 1989 graduate of Highland High School, he received a "full-ride" (tuition, books, medical coverage, and living expenses) athletic scholarship as a football lineman to San Diego State University (SDSU Aztecs), but a shoulder injury during his junior year cut short his football career.[3] At the age of 21, Porter lost his mother to cancer, but only after she entreated him from her death bed: "Sing, baby, sing!" Porter moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 2004, along with his brother Lloyd. He worked as a chef at Lloyd's restaurant Bread-Stuy (now defunct), where he also performed. Porter performed at other neighborhood venues including Sista's Place and Solomon's Porch, and moved on to Harlem club St. Nick's Pub, where he maintained a weekly residency. Out of this residency evolved what would become Porter's touring band.[4] Porter released two albums on the Motéma label together with Membran Entertainment Group, 2010's Water and 2012's Be Good, before signing with Blue Note Records (under Universal Music Group) on May 17, 2013. His third album, Liquid Spirit, was released on September 2, 2013, in Europe and on September 17, 2013, in the US.[5] The album was produced by Brian Bacchus.[6] The album won the 2014 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.[7] Liquid Spirit enjoyed commercial success rarely achieved by albums in the jazz genre, reaching the top 10 on the UK album charts. It was certified gold by the BPI, selling over 100,000 units in the UK.[8] In August 2014 Porter released "The 'In' Crowd" as a single.[9] On May 9, 2015 Porter participated in VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, a televised commemorative concert from Horse Guards Parade in London, singing "As Time Goes By".[10] His fourth album, Take Me to the Alley, was released on May 6, 2016.[11] In UK's The Guardian it was Alexis Petridis's album of the week.[12] On June 26, 2016, Porter performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 2016. Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick said, "The portly middle-aged jazzer may be the oddest pop star on the planet but he is a refreshing testament to the notion that the most important organ for musical appreciation should always be our ears. And Porter has one of the most easy-on-the-ear voices in popular music, a creamy baritone that flows thick and smooth across a rich gateaux of juicy melody. It's a voice that makes you want to lick your lips and dive right in."[13] In September 2016 Porter performed at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park from Hyde Park, London. He would go on to perform in the annual BBC Children in Need show in November, a night dedicated to Sir Terry Wogan, who hosted it in previous years and was a fan of Porter.[14] In January 2017 Porter performed the song "Holding On" on BBC One's The Graham Norton Show.[15] In September 2017 he performed as part of the Later... with Jools Holland: Later 25 concert at the Royal Albert Hall.[16] In October 2017 he performed the song "Mona Lisa" on BBC One's The Graham Norton Show with Jeff Goldblum on piano.[17] Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

In a now long forgotten world, many generations ago, a bird like shape emerged from wooded darkness, floating and fluttering, drifting and dreaming. Backlit by a bright glow of iridescent light, the undecipherable form wore a dazzling golden mask. Its long beak swooped down like an inverted horn and since then, people have referred to the mythical being simply as Claptone. Years spending wandering medieval landscapes have informed Claptone’s view of the world, experiencing both magical mystery and muted melancholy he enchanted onlookers with occult instruments and beguiling sounds. Forever surrounded by a sense of intrigue, the world soon cottoned on to the elusive yet enchanting musical powers of this otherworldly beast. The results are that, today, his shamanistic sonic powers take him all around the world... Yet despite the best efforts of the hungry masses, the mysterious Claptone still remains a mythical, little known figure who slips in and out of the shadows, leaving in his wake lasting musical experiences. Since hatching in 2012, he has continued to send people into a frenzy with his DJ sets, which are underpinned by supple grooves from the house world, are coloured with real soul and can jack you up or zone you out depending on the mood. To stay so private and unknown in the visual modern world of likes and photos is no mean feat, especially considering he plays more than 260 shows around the world each year. In 2017 he brought his own immersive and otherworldly 'The Masquerade' events with special guests including Black Coffee, Claude von Stroke, MK and Pete Tong all joining the fun to various places around the world. Besides appearing in Los Angeles, Rio, Berlin, Paris, New York and Barcelona, Claptone brought 'The Masquerade' back to Ibiza, with highlights including two all night long joint venture shows with Elrow at Amnesia. They saw him spellbind the audience for seven straight hours and were the first sold out shows of the year for the club. Furthermore there were 'The Masquerade' stages hosted in Brazil, at Melt Festival, and in LA for Halloween, and Claptone also hosted an arena at the giant Tomorrowland where four million people tuned in to the live stream that saw him play with invited guests and friends. Because of his strong shamanistic powers, Claptone always leaves people lost in music, rather than concerned about who or what it is they see before them. For that reason he still remains proudly anonymous. In terms of studio work in the last year, Claptone has served up plenty of stylish remixes of huge and influential artists like Depeche Mode, New Order, Disclosure, Faithless, Bastille and Hurts, all of which show how in demand he is by those who know. His remix of Gorillaz was picked as the best of a star studded selection, and his track The Drums saw endless BBC Radio 1 support. It was one of the tracks of the summer at festivals around the world as well as across Ibiza. All this lead to him being invited by the BBC to perform live to the whole UK during the legendary BBC R1 Ibiza Weekender, and comes off the back of Claptone winning Best House Artist for the 3rd year in a row at the Ibiza DJ Awards, and scoring the highest placed house DJ position in DJ Mag’s celebrated Top 100 DJs Poll (next to being the second highest ‘underground’ artist in the same poll, after Carl Cox). 2018 is sure to be just as busy for Claptone and rewarding for his fans, because it will bring with it ‘Fantast,’ a brand new and hugely anticipated album out in June, which sees Claptone dive deeper into his very own musical realm. With plenty of charismatic vocalists' help, the album is enchantingly beautiful, dreamy and at times naive in a liberating way. If you think you knew everything about Claptone let him prove you wrong. To keep his now more than one million Facebook fans enthralled, Claptone appeases them with musical trails, such as his weekly Clapcast podcast, which is broadcast on more than 70 radio stations and has been downloaded more than six million times in just 2017 alone. He also allows them into a little corner of his ephemeral world by offering up his own self-designed magical t-shirts and masks, while continuing to win them over with musical offerings for club, radio and home streaming alike. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.