iTunes Single of the Week Review: “Real Good Hands” Greg Porter

Gregory Porter’s single, “Real Good Hands,” off of his new sophomore album, “Be Good,” is a sweet, soft escape from the common pop-electro-rock daily barrage in our iPod.

The slow piano scales, the relaxed gentle timekeeper beats, with ice-cool sax solos in the middle, will make one nostalgic to the simpler days when music delivered a calm with every tone. And for the younger scene, this track introduces the magic and styles of Jazz that a previous generation enjoyed through the works of Nat King Cole, Joe Williams, and Donny Hathaway.

From the start Porter’s vocal threads with ease from the lower octaves of his repertoire to an energetic end to lovely crescendos throughout this gentle easy to listen song. “Real Good Hands” surprisingly emits emotional warmth that earlier singles about love have never been able to.

The key to the brilliance is the kind intimacy within the lyrics and from Porter’s glowing baritone voice.

Porter, a California native who now resides in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant, delivers with genuine soul and a throwback character in a track that mainly asks for a woman’s hand from her parents, a classy move that should always be welcomed.

In 2010, Porter’s debut album, “Water,” garnered him a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. The album brought Porter well-deserved praise as many have gone on to dub Porter the next king of Jazz. Porter’s fans include the talented Wynton Marsalis who has gone on to call Porter “a fantastic young singer.”

The new album from Porter, “Be Good,” looks to tread ahead and fortify his place in today’s Jazz vocal scene.