Listening to tracks so far from Gregory Porter's new record All Rise there's nothing here to really grip on to in the way that Porter used to prove capable of providing going back to Water and Be Good. He hasn't made a truly moving album since Liquid Spirit.

Why I wonder? Does stardom do things to you that change you as an artist? Porter's peaks were so high is it even possible to maintain that incredible momentum time after time?

Certainly Porter became that rare thing for a jazzman: a TV star, certainly in the UK, and a much loved figure. That has not changed. I don't know what happened though to the records. The songs aren't as good, the production is more showbiz, it does not feel anything near as real and personal as it once did.

Hopefully things will change and a new cycle will begin. First things first: strip the whole thing back. For now it's not working except on the mainstream entertainer level which he never really was starting out, he was instead perfect in a small club or theatre.

Porter however is still a great singer, still a benevolent presence, still someone you want to know about. Let's see what's round the corner and hope somehow he can dispense with some of the showbiz trappings for once and for all and listen to his label and producer less. SG

All Rise promo tracks, above