Gregory Porter's opening line at St David' Hall was that he'd been told a Cardiff audience was a discerning one, and he'd better be good! Two minutes in to his opening number, Painted on Canvas, it was perfectly clear that this performer had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Smooth, emotive and oh so powerful, this voice stops you in your tracks.

Brought up in a predominantly white, Californian suburb, it was his mother's, dying wish that he sing professionally, and so it was that four years ago, at the age of nearly forty, he released his first solo album.

His rise in those four years has been phenomenal, and his rich, soulful baritone has quickly put him in the high echelons of jazz.

He has an easy manner and an uncanny ability to connect with his audience, so when invited to clap along to Liquid Spirit, the title track of his latest grammy-award winning album, it was not by accident that the room responded as one.

A tight backing band consisting of piano, bass, drum and alto and tenor sax were given full reign to shine but it was when the set was pared down to just Porter and pianist, Chip Crawford that the full intensity of his voice soared.

Through On My Way to Harlem, Hey Laura and Work Song, we were left in no uncertain terms of Porter's capabilities.

The mighty, No Love Dying, has drawn comparisons with the likes of Marvin Gaye and Nat King Cole, but the truth is that Gregory Porter is a complete one-off, and in the fullness of time, for any artist to be compared to HIM would indeed be their ultimate compliment.