Gregory Porter in Mannheim

It’s a been a while since the last time I’ve seen Gregory Porter live in concert. The New York-based singer, who turns 55 tomorrow, released his last album in 2023. On “Christmas Wish”, there are two Porter originals, one of which, the stunningly poignant “Everything’s Not Lost”, was featured last night at Rosengarten in Mannheim as part of this year’s Enjoy Jazz Festival. And it was heartbreaking to see him fighting his tears while he sang “But I can’t help but hear/Children in fear/Bang from bombs that shatter moms to tears”. Gregory mostly sang songs from his albums “Liquid Spirit” (2013), “Take Me To The Alley” (2016), and “All Rise” (2020), but also included a slightly faster version of “On My Way To Harlem” from his 2012 album “Be Good”. What really striked me yesterday was the tightness of the band and how much they enjoyed playing with each other. Carlos “Scooter” Brown played a vital and elemental role, enriching and enhancing the tunes with some great tenor sax solos, which could range from lithesome to exuberant, from excessively funky to nonchalant and reassuring.

It was like a best-of show with a lot crowd pleasures thrown in, like “Hey Laura”, the evening’s opener “Holding On”, or “Concorde”. The band with Chip Crawford on piano and keys (would have loved to hear more solos from him), Jahmal Nichols on bass, Ondrej Pivec on organ, and Emanuel Herrold on drums (brother of Keyon, thanks for letting me know Ashley), and the aforementioned Scooter Brown on sax, was extremely tight, with maximum groove where necessary and primarily Scooter and Ondrej taking most of the solo space, with bassist Jahmal incorporating several soul classics into his solo as the intro to “Musical Genocide”. It’s been a ride through jazz, blues, soul, and gospel and it felt like being in church at times, thanks to the incredibly moving and wondrous sounds of Ondrej at the organ. We were also treated to a heartfelt version of “You Can Join My Band” and a powerful and intensive “No Love Dying” for the last encore.

Gregory has a few more tour stops coming up before he’s back in Germany for his Christmas shows. He’s also touring the US again in early 2027 before returning to Europe in June.

11/03 Milano – Alcatraz
11/04 Wuppertal – Stadthalle
11/13 Newark – NJPAC
11/16 Washington – The Anthem
11/19 Dübendorf – The Hall
11/20 Mas-De-Ponge – Opéra Garnier De Monte Carlo
11/21 Bratislava – Expo-Aréna
12/06 Lübeck – Musik – und Kongresshalle
12/07 Hannover – HHC
12/08 Dortmund – Konzerthaus
12/11 Vienna – Konzerthaus
12/12 Frankfurt – Alte Oper
12/14 Berlin – Philharmonie
12/15 Munich – Isarphilharmonie
12/16 Stuttgart – Liederhalle
12/18 Hamburg – Elbphilharmonie