It’s turning out to be quite a month for Nat King Cole fans. In addition to the reissue of the monumental 8CD set of Cole’s complete recordings with Nelson Riddle, we also have this similarly sumptuous album from Grammy-winning vocalist Gregory Porter. Produced, arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza, Porter’s first recording with full orchestra pays fulsome homage to one of his greatest musical touchstones. Beautifully recorded at London’s AIR studios, the 12-track collection sees the singer wrap his fabulously rich baritone around everything from an über romantic ‘Mona Lisa’ to a deeply swinging ‘Ballerina’. Whether floating over the shimmering orchestral backdrop of ‘Nature Boy’, growling at the climactic point of his self-penned ballad ‘When Love Was King’ (from his 2013 album Liquid Spirit), or employing his magnificent legato in ‘Quizas, Quizas, Quizas’, as with everything he does Porter sings straight from the heart with a timbral finesse, clarity of line and emotional honesty. The very first time Porter heard a Cole recording it was with strings, which somehow makes the glowing orchestrations of Nat ‘King’ Cole & Me seem an even more fitting and heartfelt tribute.