Rising singing star Gregory Porter's exciting recent live shows in London balanced plenty of fizzing, fast music and jazz acrobatics with the honeyed tones of Nat King Cole he learned to imitate at his mother's knee. Much of this largely self-penned set operates at more of a smoulder, exploring that distinctive kind of mellow innocence in Porter's articulate lyrics. However, after half-a-dozen lovesongs and mother-cherishing acclamations (including the lullaby-like title track), a little more muscle becomes desirable. There's no urgent political anthem here with the punch of 1960 What?, from Porter's previous album, Water. But three enthralling covers late in the tracklist give Be Good some of its most gripping moments, with one of the great accounts of Nat Adderley's Work Song (displaying Porter at his most emphatically agile), an a cappella version of God Bless the Child and a visit to Nat Cole territory on the theme from the 1959 Douglas Sirk movie Imitation of Life. The singing is immaculate all the way through, and there's plenty of blowing space from some dynamic improvisers, notably saxophonists Yosuke Sato and Tivon Pennicott. (John Fordham guardian.co.uk,)
