When Gregory Porter was an enterprising 5-year-old, he recorded himself singing a song of his own devising. After he'd played it for his mother, she said he sounded like Nat King Cole. From that moment, Porter, who filled a one-night Metropolitan Room engagement recently, became obsessed with Cole. He decided to regard the late, beloved crooner-pianist as the father figure he longed for to replace his own absentee dad.
Porter has never stopped idolizing Cole. Indeed, his devotion is so strong that -- in addition to prepping a musical about the two of them called Nat King Cole and Me -- he's singing the man's repertoire whenever and wherever he can. Now that he's an adult, he's grown into a voice that as often as not replicates the Cole sound, especially when he modulates the tones. The voice, however, is much more full-bodied than Cole's light baritone was. The difference translates into weightier treatments of "Mona Lisa" (Jay Livingston-Ray Evans), "Nature Boy" (Eden Ahbez), "Sweet Lorraine" (Mitchell Parrish-Clifford Burwell), and several other Cole signature tunes. Porter also favors slowing songs down and stretching syllables. It's a tactic that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
But the question he raises as he warbles with his eyes closed -- for some unexplained reason in a tight-fitting cloth helmet -- is whether a sturdy voice and a passion add up to a polished act. Though Porter is cheerful enough, his patter is desultory, and his juggling what seem to be frayed lyric sheets isn't reassuring either.
Incidentally, Nat King Cole isn't the only singer whom Porter sounds like -- and may have even sounded like at age 5. When he chants, there are unmistakable Sammy Davis, Jr. echoes. Maybe when he gets the Cole show down, he can shift to "The Candy Man," "Mr. Bojangles," and "I've Gotta Be Me."
Presented by and at the Metropolitan Room,
34 W. 22nd St., NYC.
Sat., Aug. 25.