Arguably one of the greatest songwriters in the history of mankind, the brilliant genius of Cole Porter has been reinterpreted countless times over decades past. Most recently celebrated and spotlighted by the major motion picture "De-Lovely," featuring reincarnations of Porter's music by a host of popular musicians and songsters. Riding the wave of popularity and rediscovery of Cole Porter and his art comes a full-length "tribute" album from no other than Kriztal Entertainment. Kriztal is known for ultra consistent new and re-releases of lounge artist albums and compilations. The album in question is entitled "The Porter Project," and produced by performer/producer Billy Paul Williams. Instead of applying the traditional styling of American jazz and pop in which Porter originally composed, The Porter Project swings the entire album spiraling out into the middle of Land o' Lounge. But rather than totally screwing everything up, the artists and producers create their own landscape of electro nu-jazz sounds; Porter's music is not only the subdued base of construction, but more-so an accent to the new compositions themselves.
The opening piece, In the Still of the Night, features Simon Salz on classical guitar fading out around the 48-second mark. Night and Day then comes on with booming upright bass and the voice of Charlotte McKinnon, acoustic piano paired with electric piano and vibraphone, synthetic string arrangements, and a moving/filtered broken-beat electro track with acoustic jazz kit accents. Easy to Love takes the track #3 slot with its Afro-Caribbean percussion and bossa-house rhythms, featuring instrumentation from electric bass, and synthetic strings with a charming kalimba melody. Lauren Carter sings as the additional African vocal accents and electric guitar add to the flavor. Love For Sale enters with broken hip hop beats and tasteful conga percussion. The music features a nice synth-orchestral string arrangement with piano, and modulated electro accents to suit. Charlotte McKinnon's vocals embody a glorious R&B soul quality, and the entire track has a funky laid back nu-jazz feel. Up at #5 is Mr. Billy Paul Williams himself, and the tragic tale of Miss Otis Regrets.
The song is mostly electro-pop/hop with a funky growling fretless bass and orchestral strings; it also has a bit of transistor scratching thrown in for good measure. The Caribbean-styled vocals from Williams, paired with the subdued funky guitar and reverbed synth stabs give the song a Massive Attack nuance; the kalimba accented melody is also a nice cadence.
I Love Paris swings in with a bit of hot American jazz, complete with full orchestration including multiple trumpets and grand piano solos and leads. The song also features upright bass, xylophone, great vocals, and a swinging 4/4 house beat fit for any dancefloor. How Could We Be Wrong follows up with a more worldly state; its South-Asian instrumentation, complete with violin and full classical Asian orchestration, is an excellent touch to the already much African sounding music as a whole. Including bansuri flutes, female vocals, driving downtempo rhythms with tabla and percussion, and piano melodies, the song has an excellent arrangement altogether.
One of Porter's most notorious songs entitled Gigolo is next up. With its busy Afro-Caribbean, multi-conga percussion, and broken hip-hop beats, the song is complimented by piano, saxophone, a jazzy Latin electric guitar, electric bass, and electric piano. It also has some dancehall ragga callbacks, and Caribbean styled male vocals sounding similar to a victrola recording. Taking the #9 slot is the uncanny I've Got You Under My Skin. The solo trumpet intro urges the listener on, while the half time Reggae/lounge rhythm and instrumentation is complimented by the ragga/jungle jump-ups and breakdowns. Vocalizations include dancehall ragga callbacks and female vocals accompanied with piano.
