GREGORY PORTER 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Ella Fitzgerald has a spotless discography that is packed with many a classic tunes but for plenty of fans and critics alike, Let No Man Write My Epitaph is one of her ultimate standouts. She recorded the album back in 1960 with backing from the pianist Paul Smith. The album takes its name from the movie in which Fitzgerald starred and hits some truly rare depth of emotional understanding. It helped secure Ella's status as one of the finest translators of the Great American Songbook and now Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series transfers the originals from analog tapes and has remastered them on to 180-gram vinyl complete with deluxe gatefold packaging.

Review: Few contemporary jazz songwriters have emerged with such demonstrative authenticity and clarity as Gregory Porter. Liquid Spirit continues where the prolific artist left us with Be Good and Water; soulful, funky and galvanised in honest emotion. Echoing foundation-setting singers such as Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield and even further back to the likes of Sammy Davis Junior, Porter flings us from vibe to vibe with precision-written lyrics and emphatic delivery. Highlights include the double-bass slapping stomper "Liquid Spirit", the boogie-fuelled "The In Crowd", the Cullum-esque "When Love Was King" and the tear-jerking finale "Water Under Bridges." Beautiful business.