Album: Gregory Porter, Water (Motema)

Tipped by Jamie Cullum as one to watch, Porter is a deep-voiced vocalist from Bakersfield, California. There's an obvious debt to Kurt Elling but Porter seems relatively unbound by technique, sounding less mannered and more soulful as a result.

On the stand-out "1960 What?" there's a touch of Gil Scott-Heron, while the opening original, "Illusion", and the standards "Skylark" and "But Beautiful" showcase his warm intonation and sexily swooning, Billy Eckstine ballad style.