This week, I’ve had Gregory Porter’s version of the Jazz standard, “But Beautiful” #OnRepeat. If you’ve read previous posts, you’ll find that a lot of these #OnRepeat posts are about Gregory Porter (for good reason), but I can’t get enough of this song.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, Gregory Porter is a singer, songwriter and actor who won a Grammy in 2014 for Best Jazz Vocal Album with his album Liquid Spirit. Some of his most well known songs are “Be Good,” “Liquid Spirit,” and “Don’t Lose Your Steam.”
The music for the Jazz standard,”But Beautiful” was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and the lyrics by Johnny Burke for the movie, Road to Rio in 1947. The song has been performed by singers like Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, and Barbara Streisand. The song talks about both the good and bad aspects of love; despite all of it, it’s still beautiful. You still take the risk and fall, wanting to be with that other person no matter what. The lyrics are simplistic, yet so poignant, filled with emotion and imagery, which is the perfect type of song for Gregory Porter. Porter’s deep, yet bright vocal timbre and soulful/croon-like performance style adds so much more depth to an already musically and lyrically well-rounded song.
Take a listen below:
Do you have an singer or group that you can’t stop listening to? Leave a comment below!