Almost four years have passed since Gregory Porter released "Take Me To The Alley," his last album of fresh original material. Four years in which the singer was not idle, of course. For during this period he recorded the wonderful Nat King Cole tribute "Nat King Cole & Me" (2017) for Decca and also released two European concert recordings: "Live In Berlin" (2016) and "One Night Only: Live At The Royal Albert Hall" (2018). He also did the honors as a guest on recordings by drum legend Louis Hayes ("Serenade For Horace") and Jeff Goldblum ("I Shouldn't Be Telling You This"). But with his sixth studio album, "All Rise," which offers a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, blues and gospel, he finally returns to new songs written by himself, in which he wears his heart on his sleeve.