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May 11, 2016Every song sounds earned, not just by life but by musical wisdom. Each track may cannily remind us of great music from the past, but the core of each song is original. Porter’s knack for melody is sure, and the musical settings are more truly tailored to the melodies than they are derivative.
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May 6, 2016It may be resolutely old-fashioned and, for sure, we’ve heard it all before, but the sheer pleasure in Porter’s singing is all but impossible to resist.
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May 5, 2016Throughout the album, which the singer produced with Kamau Kenyatta, Porter matches these cozy sentiments with modest, small-scale arrangements--mostly keys, bass and drums--that sound shaped more by the gigs he's played over the last three years than by any desire to experiment in the studio. But Porter’s resting state is a compelling one.
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MojoMay 5, 2016Fan The Flames and French African Queen end the CD with real vigour. Confirmed fans will lap it up. [Jun 2016, p.93]
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May 5, 2016Again Porter delivers passion and craft in abundance, owing to the songwriting, the acoustic-jazz arrangements (by producer Kamau Kenyatta and pianist Chip Crawford), and his corduroy-warm baritone, pliant and powerful.
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May 5, 2016If there’s nothing on Take Me to the Alley to scare away Porter’s existing audience, it still sounds less like music made for a mass market than that of a man who happened to have found one while following his own path.
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May 5, 2016If there's a knock against Take Me to the Alley, it's that it feels a bit long. Editing out two or three tunes would have heightened its impact. That Porter doesn't break new ground here isn't a big deal; he doesn't need to.
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May 11, 2016It’s more of a slow burn and a slight step backward from Liquid Spirit’s dynamic nature. The results are nice, but with too few standouts, Alley breezes by.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 13
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Mixed: 4 out of 13
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Negative: 4 out of 13
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Jun 6, 2016
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Jun 6, 2016
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Jun 7, 2016