Gregory Porter, whose meteoric ascent in 2014 has taken him from jazz clubs to prime time TV, releases a Deluxe Edition of his Grammy-winning album, Liquid Spirit. The Deluxe Edition includes an additional 4 tracks of collaborations, covers and a brand new remix. Jamie Cullum joins Gregory for their own take on 'Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood', which they performed on Strictly Come Dancing. There is also a brand new version of Porter singing 'Grandma’s Hands' (originally made famous by Bill Withers) featuring Ben L’Oncle Soul, and the 20Syl remix of 'Liquid Spirit' takes Gregory to the clubs. The British Jazz/Soul singer Laura Mvula also joins Gregory here on the Deluxe, for a new version of his composition ‘Water Under Bridges’ – a lament dealing with challenges of shifting past a broken relationship...

If you bought Gregory Porter's release of Liquid Spirit on its original release (2013), whether you want to bother picking up this Deluxe Edition will depend very much on how much you love the original. There's quite a bit of additional content (four songs and a DVD) but does it warrant buying twice? However, if you didn't pick up the original album, then forget all about that release and pick this up.

Porter has an incredible voice and the choice of tracks on this album really help to show off his vocal range.

I was, however, surprised that the original version of 'Water Under Bridges' has quite a noticeable piano error in it. It's a shame that it hadn't been fixed in the edit, but I doubt most will notice it unless they're wearing headphones.

The duet of that same song with Laura Mvula adds another level to the original, although the takes that were chosen when laying down the song are a little odd. She sounds like a totally different singer in the first part of the first verse to how her voice comes over in the second part of the same verse. At first I was convinced that a young and older singer were both joining Porter on the track. However, this is a great track.

In fact, all of the additional songs add much to the album, but I particularly loved 'Water Under Bridges' (feat. Laura Mvula) and 'Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood' (feat. Jamie Cullum).

The bonus DVD features extracts from Porter's performance with the Metropole Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley, from 2013. As well as orchestral versions of his own tracks we see Porter covering Muddy Water’s ‘Hootchie Coochie Man’.

It's a great little package, and one that's well worth picking up if you don't already own the original.

Track listing:

CD

01 - No Love Dying
02 - Liquid Spirit
03 - Lonesome Lover
04 - Water Under Bridges
05 - Hey Laura
06 - Musical Genocide
07 - Wolfcry
08 - Free
09 - Brown Grass
10 - Wind Song
11 - The In Crowd
12 - Movin’
13 - When Love Was King
14 - I Fall In Love Too Easily
BONUS TRACKS
15 - Water Under Bridges (feat. Laura Mvula)
16 - Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (feat. Jamie Cullum)
17 - Grandma’s Hands (feat. Ben L’Oncle Soul)
18 - Liquid Spirit (20Syl remix)

DVD

Gregory Porter Meets Metropole Orkest
01 - Grandma’s Hands
02 - Hoochie Coochie Man
03 - She Was Too Good To Me
04 - Someday We’ll All Be Free
05 - Work Song

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Nick Smithson