
Gregory Porter: A love of jazz and THAT parking lot performanceGregory Porter dishes on his love of uncle' Hugh Masekela and that impromptu performance in a North West parking lot.
by Mariette van Niekerk
02-02-2023 16:12
in Music
Gregory Porter during his sold out Cape Town show. Image: @gregoryportermusic
| Instagram.
Fans are still in a daze after jazz icon and Grammy winner Gregory Porter's South African tour last month. The singer wowed audiences at sold-out shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
--
ALSO READ: Jazz icon: Fans of Gregory Porter gearing up for his show
GREGORY PORTER REMEMBERS HIS MAHIKENG PARKING LOT SHOW Although he annually books up to 200 concerts, Porter, in a recent interview with News24, revealed that he will always remembers his humble beginnings.
Before the father of two became the powerhouse that he is today, Porter recalled a special impromptu performance in the North West during his first visit to South Africa more than a decade ago.
--
Fresh off his South African tour, Gregory Porter has a special message for SA. Image: @gregoryportermusic | Instagram. People will say that I've performed at the fancy Royal Albert Hall. Yeah, sure, but when I first came to SA, I went to Mahikeng and I performed at a grocery store parking lot in a township. The children were sitting on the pavement. They were about 40 but in my mind they were sitting in the front row of an arena. I love bringing music to the people. When I sing Take Me To The Alley, this is what I am talking about, Porter told The Citizen.
When I came here the first time, I thought I was just extra entertainment but there were thousands of people singing my songs back to me. I was a bit shocked. I don't perform the songs the way I do on the studio version. The song at the time was Hey Laura, and I was deviating from the studio version and the audience was singing it back to me the way it was. Now I had to remember how I sang it, he added.
Porter has a special message for the people of South Africa.
At your most majestic, you should not forget the people who are in the darkness, the people who need your help. The hungry people, don't forget about them, he told eNCA in a video interview.
--
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Gregory Porter (@gregoryportermusic)
ODE TO UNCLE' HUGH MASEKELA The past week marked five years since the passing of South African jazz royalty Hugh Masekela.
During the interview, Porter expressed his admiration and love for the late musician.
Hugh has always felt like an uncle in a way. I've only had an opportunity to meet him twice before he passed. His sound, rawness and way of doing things is a way that can influence a lot of artists today.
I once saw him perform and at that time, he was well-up in age, and I saw him bend down almost all the way to the floor, and he played his horn almost on the floor. I was on tour at that time and I was a bit tired. I tried to do what he did and I couldn't do it. That is how fantastic he was, he added.
HIS LOVE OF JAZZ RUNS DEEP Apart from his admiration for Hugh Masekela, Porter is also a big fan of Nat King Cole.
When I was a little boy I did not know that I was listening to jazz when my mother put on Nat King Cole, I had no idea what it was but it was good. My mother used to take out the sound system and put it out on the street and she would say, son, sing to these people' , the icon said.
These people were alcoholics, prostitutes and people who had some difficulty with drugs. And she told me that those are the people who need what I have because those are the first people who I sang for, Porter recalled.
He credits his musical idols Luther Vandross and James Brown, and encourage upcoming jazz artists to embrace the work of those who preceded the way for them.
Every generation has new influences. I had different influences than Nat King Cole had. Marvin Gaye had different influences. But how fortunate am I to have the influence of Marvin Gaye, Don Hathaway, Bill Withers. I think it should be acceptable to bring in new influences because you build off the legacy of what came before. We should not fear salting the sound of jazz with good hip hop. All the other music are cousins of jazz, he explains.
ALSO READ: Grammys 2023: Here's who will attend/ skip music's biggest night
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY MARIETTE VAN NIEKERK
Financial freedom helps to reduce the burden of living from paycheck to paycheck. Read more here!
Most recent headlines
12/12/2025
HUDSON, Mass. BitFire and Appear have struck a strategic partnership aimed at offering broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms a faster, more flexi...
12/12/2025
The broadcast industry is evolving faster than ever. #IPWorkflows #remoteproduction, and next-gen audio systems are reshaping how teams design, deliver, and sca...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The payroll and production accounting platform Wrapbook has announced the acquisition of Cinapse, a modern scheduling platform for film and televisi...
12/12/2025
DEHLI Ross Video has announced that it is expanding and restructuring its commercial and technical teams in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation...
12/12/2025
LONDON Following the success of its UK launch in January 2025, Rise AV, the global not-for-profit initiative dedicated to supporting and advancing women in the ...
12/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Ad-supported streaming service Tubi next week will launch Matter Casting, a new casting standard that will enable seamless mobile-to-TV viewing di...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
Scripps Research team pioneers an efficient way to stereoselectively add fluorine to drug-like molecules A new method uses a novel catalyst and inexpensive fluo...
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
ESPN's Aims for Spectacular With Heisman Trophy ShowEvent firsts include 1080p HDR production airing on both national broadcast and cableBy Dan Daley, Audio...
11/12/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Frankie Patton, University of ColoradoThe 2025 grad is hitting the ground running as a PA on national broadcastsBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 3By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 7:24 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2...
11/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: What Makes Gen Z, X, and Y Fans Tick? Dave Gavant of WSC Sports Go...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: 5G, MXL, Spectrum Loss, and Outerspace on Tap for Tues...
11/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: David Levy, Turner Titan and Master of Al...
11/12/2025
SVG Launches Follow the Money' Podcast: Go Inside the Sports Media Biz with...
11/12/2025
A Deep Dive Inside Game Creek Video's Bird and Magic Mobile Units, Home to A...
11/12/2025
How Sound Effects for Monsters Funday Football' Emulated the Sonic Soul of ...
11/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CSP Mobile Productions' Len Chase on Upgrading Tr...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
11/12/2025
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift. Her highly anticipated album The Life...
11/12/2025
New satellites for the SDA Tranche 1 Tracking program in production at L3Harris&...
11/12/2025
The Meadowlands system, a compact and mobile version of the CCS, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications....
11/12/2025
The L3Harris demonstration united tactical communications devices, counter-UAS c...
11/12/2025
Throughout 2025, L3Harris delivered innovative solutions to U.S. and allied warfighters across every domain.
With an unrelenting commitment to excellence, our...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
11/12/2025
WALTHAM, Mass. Video-over-IP software provider Zixi said Roi Sasson has joined the company as vice president, engineering....
11/12/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. In a move that highlights the growing competition between broadcasters and CTV platforms for local advertising, LG Ad Solutions has announ...
11/12/2025
Boston Conservatory Earns Several Best of Accolades in 2025 Highlights include a faculty Grammy win, a seventh consecutive year on Playbill's list of co...
11/12/2025
RASTATT, Germany Lawo and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have partnered to launch the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive ...
11/12/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcasts Xfinity operating brand has announced the launch of new national video plans with all-in pricing that the operator said will provide custo...
11/12/2025
After eight years of declines, MoffettNathansons new Cord Cutting Monitor for Q3 2025 shows that pay TV subscribers to linear TV packages rose by 303,000, the f...
11/12/2025
Happy Holidays from Berklee Enjoy this years holiday student-performance video.
December 10, 2025
By
Office of the President
Dear Berklee community,
As w...
11/12/2025
Unveiling what it describes as the most capable model series yet for professional knowledge work, OpenAI launched GPT-5.2 today. The model was trained and deplo...
11/12/2025
11 Dec 2025
VEON's Banglalink Receives Regulatory Approval to Launch Digita...
11/12/2025
Thursday 11 December 2025
Sky Arts paints a picture of Britain's beauty as ...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Meet the Most Relatable Hero This Holiday: Main Trailer and Po...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
High Tides: Netflix Shares Release Date Final Season
Credit: Netflix / Thomas Nolf
Entertainment
11 December 2025
GlobalNetherlandsBelgium...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in Texas: How Netflix House Dallas Is Leaving a Lasting Footprint
From left to right: America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerl...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
The Second Part of One Hundred Years of Solitude Will Arrive i...
11/12/2025
It's not every day we're asked to create a website for a classical musician!
So, we were delighted to help pianist Georgina Duncan as she embarks on he...
11/12/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today announced additional programm...
11/12/2025
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Irish golfing hero Shane Lowry...
11/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier ti...
11/12/2025
Hunters, saddle up - adventure awaits in the cloud.
Journey into the world of M...
11/12/2025
Sash is ready to samba as Fair City star Stephanie Kelly is revealed as the late...
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
10/12/2025
Sound-Alike Commercials Are Part of Sports' Soundtrack Johnny Cash for Coca-Cola is the latest in a long litany of sonic approximationsBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
10/12/2025
Immersive Sound Is Logical Next Step for Sports VenuesSound-systems suppliers are sanguine, but the market has its challengesBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednes...
10/12/2025
The Romans Built Arenas for Immersive Sound 2,000 Years AgoThe historic Arena of Nimes in France is still in use todayBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, De...