A Blaine Harbor Music Festival teacher got his moment of recognition on January 26, winning best classical vocal solo album at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards.
Charlie Porter, a Portland-based trumpeter who has attended the annual Blaine festival for seven years, worked with mezzo-soprano singer Joyce DiDonato on her latest album, Songplay, which ultimately landed him his first Grammy award.
The album is based on improvisations of opera, jazz and tango to create a harmony between vocalist DiDonato, trumpeter Porter, bassist Chuck Israels, drummer Jimmy Madison, pianist Craig Terry and accompanists Steve Barnett and Lautaro Greco.
Israels, Porter said, helped him get involved with the album. The bassist, who has recorded with Billie Holiday and John Coltrane, played with Porter in Portland prior to being contacted by music producer Steve Barnett to form part of the band for the album. Porter got the recording agreement back in February 2018 and began recording that March at Skywalker Sound, a sound effect and recording studio founded by filmmaker George Lucas. The album was released in February 2019.
Porter joined Songplay’s U.S. tour in February and March following the album’s release. A second tour for the album will play across Europe starting in June.
DiDonato wanted to merge her classical voice with stylings of a jazz band, creating a synthesis of the opera world and the jazz world, Porter said.
“As a classical musician, I have definitely played in opera, but to merge the two things together is quite unusual and unique,” Porter said. “Joyce called upon my skills as an improviser to bring the ‘jazz’ to the recording.”
For Porter, his style means moving beyond the limitations of genres. He grew up playing classical and jazz, among other genres, but doesn’t associate himself strictly with either.
“In this day and age, when we have so many types of music going on simultaneously within different genres, I think it’s almost limiting to have these names,” Porter said. “People automatically get the perception of what your music is when you say it’s jazz.”
It wasn’t until Porter’s teenage years that he realized he wanted to do music. He first picked up the trumpet at 12 years old and became fully invested when he was 13, after seeing a Wynton Marsalis concert that fated his career.
“From that point on, I knew I wanted to do music,” Porter said of the Marsalis concert. “Once I started writing music, I realized how much fun it could be and how much I could express my ideas in a way that I never could before then.”
Porter’s latest album, Immigration Nation, focuses on jazz while incorporating elements of different genres, which Porter partially attributes to his classical training at the Juilliard School. Porter said he hopes the Grammy win will help shed light onto the album, released in November 2019 by Seattle label Origin Records.
The album celebrates the diverse history of immigration that has shaped the U.S. over centuries, while paying tribute to Porter’s own heritage.
“Music can be a beautiful thing to heal us and make us feel great, but it can also help bring attention to things that we need to think about and dig deeper into,” Porter said.
Porter said when he met fellow musician Nick Biello at last year’s music festival in Blaine, he knew Biello was the saxophonist he wanted on Immigration Nation. After four months of Porter composing the album’s music, the pair recorded the album in New York City in collaboration with four other artists.
“I had to wait for the right moment when we could all get together and record,” Porter said. “Once we did, I felt like we came up with a project that’s magical. I’m hoping this album will be a contender for a Grammy.”
The Blaine Harbor Music Festival has been hosted annually since 2002 by the Pacific Arts Association (PAA), a Blaine nonprofit dedicated to promoting the arts through community events like the week-long camp every July that caters to youth ages 12-19 from Whatcom County and beyond. Live performances are held every day during the camp featuring the camp’s faculty.
Bryan Johnson, the president of the PAA, said Porter’s win was well deserved and he looks forward to seeing if Immigration Nation lands the trumpeter another Grammy nomination in 2021.
“Immigration Nation is a fabulous album indicative of Charlie’s skills and talent,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Porter’s world-class musical talent matches his structured teaching style and tender personality.
“Charlie is a remarkably sensitive and creative teacher,” Johnson said. “Kids love him and he’s so, so good with them. The way he teaches reaches kids on their level.”
Porter encouraged Blaine residents to attend the Blaine Harbor Music Festival this July 5-11.
“When the kids feel the rush of an audience that really hears that music and appreciates it, there’s no better feeling in the world,” Porter said. “That exchange has to go both ways, the audience to the music and the music to the audience.”
Additional information and registration for the Blaine Harbor Music Festival is available at blaineharbormusicfestival.org. Limited scholarships are available for full and partial tuition.
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