Live Review: Gregory Porter, Karen Lee Andrews

Karen Lee Andrews opened to a respectable show of early arrivers, playing original bluesy ballads and also giving us treatments of songs by soul powerhouses like Nina Simone. The music was listenable without being outstanding. The standout feature was definitely contained in the rich timbre of the artist formerly known as Ms Murphy's soulful vocals, as well as the symbiosis within the band, typified in songs like Want My Love and Nobody Else. 

Gregory Porter's band began without him, as is the fashion of many jazz and soul singers. Porter indeed fits snugly somewhere between those two genres, his voice deep and sonorous, lilting and undulating with a tender enveloping tone. 

The band was a combination of adept and adroit musicians with skills in experimentation and knowledge in listenability, creating a sentimental and romantic atmosphere that never strayed too far from pop sensibilities. This was the perfect backdrop for Porter's tunes, characterised by perfectly crafted melodies comprising the well-rounded notes you'd expect in a Broadway musical. The lyrics, simple yet full of feeling, matched the precision of the music.

A receptive audience filled Enmore Theatre and fans were lucky enough to see Porter traverse his musical catalogue, journeying through works like his Grammy-award winning album, Liquid Spirit and his new album Take Me To The Alley.

The audience came alive in songs like On My Way To Harlem, which had a brand new arrangement that bounced along without a clear choral transition, and the groovy Musical Genocide. But it was Don't Be A Fool where the singer performed with just the piano, baring his soul and even letting a note die in his larynx, that stirred fans into tear-jerked applause.