My overwhelming memory of my childhood is the constant busyness in the house. I am seventh out of eight kids – five boys and three girls – plus my mom, Ruth. Gregory Porter Read Quote
And I’ve made it a choice on my records that sometimes I leave the breath or the trailing note that sometimes falls into a flat or a sharp. Gregory Porter Read Quote
Writing from a personal experience can bring about this emotion and power of emotion that can be instantly connected to the instrument, my voice. Gregory Porter Read Quote
My part of Brooklyn has always been a very warm neighbourhood, even before I had anything going on in the music industry. When I step out of my house to go for coffee on Saturday mornings, I might say hi to 20 people before I get to the cafe. I think they feel they own me, in a way. Gregory Porter Read Quote
Because I am away so much, I try to establish home in people, rather than places. For example, wherever I get together with my brother the place we’re in becomes home. Gregory Porter Read Quote
Sometimes I’ll be in circles, and I’ll say I’m a jazz singer, and they have no idea what that means. Gregory Porter Read Quote
How can you sing a line like, ‘I’ve fallen out of love’ when you’re 18? You need to experience something of life before you can sing it. Gregory Porter Read Quote
My mother was a minister, so I grew up in a church. My grandfather was a minister; there are a bunch of ministers in my family. Gregory Porter Read Quote
Gospel music was very prevalent in my house. My mother also loved Nat King Cole. That was some of the first music that I heard. Mahalia Jackson, Nat King Cole and the Mississippi Mass Choir. Gregory Porter Read Quote
