Artist: Gregory Porter

Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award  for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and then again in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley. 

Gregory Porter was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in Bakersfield, California.

Porter moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of  Brooklyn in 2004, and worked as a chef at his brother Lloyd's restaurant Bread-Stuy, 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. 

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. The album, produced by Brian Bacchus, won the 2014 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.  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. 

Describing his own style Porter said in a 2014 interview: "I would say, Donny Hathaway, Nat King Cole, Bill Withers – I hear something of me in all of them that is similar to the culture that I grew up in i.e., Gospel music. I could hear the familiarity to Gospel music in the songs of someone like Ray Charles; just voices that influence my soul and are rooted in Gospel music." 

is debut album, Water, was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. He was also a member of the original Broadway cast of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues.