GREGORY PORTER & THE BAYLOR PROJECT

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern Gospel sound as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection as fundamental influences on his own sound. In 2013 he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which sold more than a million albums and earned Porter his first Grammy Award, with NPR declaring him “America’s next great jazz singer.”

His 2016 follow-up Take Me to the Alley won Porter his second Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. His 2021 release Still Rising collects new songs, covers, duets, and a selection of his much-loved favorite songs.

Featuring Jean Baylor and Marcus Baylor, The Baylor Project is a duo built on love, family, faith, culture, and community. Their debut, The Journey, garnered two Grammy nominations. Their second album, Generations (2021), earned the duo its first NAACP Image Award win for Outstanding Jazz Album-Vocal and its fourth Grammy nomination.

Marcus and Jean’s combined musicianship is unmatched. Their dynamic performances are soulful to the bone. The Baylors will raise you up and inspire you to clap along with them to a swinging mid-tempo tune. Yet, at a moments’ notice, you may be moved to tears when they change the atmosphere with a spiritual song that will stir the emotions.