
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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Matrox Video will showcase its vision for the future of live production at NAB 2026 in Las Vegas, April 19-22, highlighting how broadcasters and media organizat...
11/03/2026
Geneva-based technology company, GlobalM SA, is presenting its GMX Distributed Video Gateway, a software-defined IP media transport platform designed to replace...
11/03/2026
Backlight (booth #N2829), the company behind Iconik and Wildmoka, which power video workflows for large media and entertainment organizations, has released the ...
11/03/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, presents its latest StudioEdge models at The NAB Show ...
11/03/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the expansion of Telestream Cloud Services with the introduction of UP, a new cloud-...
11/03/2026
Operative, the preferred advertising management provider for the world's leading media brands, today announced the launch of AOS for digital media, an AI-po...
11/03/2026
Calrec will be located in Central Hall, on Booth C6907
Choice without compromise
The broadcast industry is going through a rapid evolution that s signalling a...
11/03/2026
The new service is hosted and operated entirely in the Netherlands, combining data sovereignty, resilience, scalability, and predictable costs without relying...
11/03/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company and leader in interactive graphical overlays, today announced the successful deployment of its platform on Red Bull TV for Premier ...
11/03/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, is advancing its Semantic Intelligence cap...
11/03/2026
Emergent, a leading provider of AI-enhanced media production solutions, today announced the official launch of Fusion, a powerful, no-code application builder d...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/03/2026
Utah Scientific today announced the expansion of its Technology Partner Program with the addition of Audinate, Bitfocus, and Skaarhoj, three industry leaders wh...
11/03/2026
DigitalGlue, creator of the creative.space on-premise managed storage platform, today revealed plans to launch creative.space Intelligence (CSI) at NAB 2026 (Bo...
11/03/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, has annou...
11/03/2026
Composer and Re-recording Mixer Michael Phillips Keeley has built his career around immersive storytelling. Working from his Dolby Atmos-equipped studio, Sound ...
11/03/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that YES, the pay-TV subsidiary of the telco Bezeq (TASE: BEZQ), has selected Synamedia Iris to delive...
11/03/2026
As media companies face increasing cost pressures and operational complexity, at the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader in OTT / TV...
11/03/2026
Digital Alert Systems, a global leader in emergency communications solutions for media providers, today announced the release of Version 6 software for its DASD...
11/03/2026
First Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) deployment of the emergency.lu platform for refugees and their host communities' use provides dependable broadband for humani...
11/03/2026
Foundry releases Nuke 17.0
Brie Clayton March 1, 2026
0 Comments
Native Gaussian Splat support, new 3D system based on USD, expanded machine learning ca...
11/03/2026
Preserving UNESCO World Heritage with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton March 1, 2026
0 Comments
The Explorers turned to France's cultural landmark...
11/03/2026
I Clicked This By Accident And It Made After Effects SO Much Faster
Graham Quince March 1, 2026
0 Comments
Discover how Region of Interest in Adobe A...
11/03/2026
Cine Gear Connect Brings a Focused All-Day Experience to Industry City, NY
Brie Clayton March 4, 2026
0 Comments
Registration is now open for Cine Gea...
11/03/2026
La Vor gine Edited and Finished with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton March 4, 2026
0 Comments
One of Colombia's most ambitious projects goes g...
11/03/2026
SoundMarket Launches 18,000 Tracks of Real Music by Award-Winning Composers for...
11/03/2026
Capta Center Supports NOVO19 Remote Production with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 5, 2026
0 Comments
The facility provides production and playo...
11/03/2026
DigitalGlue Ends the Post-Production Tax: creative.space Intelligence (CSI) Unif...
11/03/2026
Kochi Sun Sun Uses Blackmagic Replay for High School Volleyball Finals
Brie Clayton March 9, 2026
0 Comments
Versatile Blackmagic Replay system proves...
11/03/2026
Richard Bona Joins Berklee for Signature Series Concert The Grammy-winning Cameroonian bassist and vocalist collaborates with students and faculty in a progra...
11/03/2026
Launched today, NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super is a 120 billion parameter open model with 12 billion active parameters designed to run complex agentic AI systems at sc...
11/03/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded nearly $5 million by NIH to investigate cancer growth Researchers will investigate how a common dietary nutrient may control...
11/03/2026
TELL US YOUR (SHORT) STORIES
The 2026 RT Short Story Competition is now open for entries
Recognising and rewarding the best new Irish fiction writing for...
11/03/2026
RT 's The Traitors Ireland is among the nominees for the 2026 Celtic Media Festival Torc Awards for Excellence, announced today....
10/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...