Mark Winkler
Jazz and Other Four Letter Words
August 23, 2015
(Café Pacific Records)
Reviewed by Mary Bogue for Cabaret Scenes
Cool. Jazz. Done. Like. Mark.
Mark Winkler’s latest CD, number 14, is officially way cool. Like a prize fighter, he swings right out of the box with “My Idea of a Good Time” (Greg Gordon Smith and Mark Winkler) and its arrangement and the piano stylings of Jamieson Trotter set the bar for the rest of the album.
How hip is Winkler? Hip enough to bring Cheryl Bentyne of Manhattan Transfer fame on board to duet on the Dave Frishberg and Bob Dorough number (“I’m Hip”) which sparkles with Bentyne right in the Blossom Dearie pocket and beautiful bass work by John Clayton on this Jamieson Trotter arrangement. The result is proof positive that Winkler is just one cool guy who really does “…get so much out of life, really I do…”
There’s a great sampling of old school groove, too. One only needs to hear the George and Ira Gershwin standard “Nice Work If You Can Get It” to know that Winkler continues to sing with great connection to the lyrics, taking his time to just bring it all on home.
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Groovalicious Winkler kills with his and Bill Cantos song,“Your Cat Plays Piano,” with lyrics that paint a picture of one cool cat, a hipster feline, a jazzer “who will not play the melody.” Bound to become a classic, it’s impossible not to toe-tap here.
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The whole CD is filled with great musical expression showcasing Winkler’s seemingly endless talent as singer and songwriter. But none shines more than “I Chose the Moon” (Cantos and Winkler) written for his love of more than 30 years. Sometimes being hip means removing the gloves and letting your guard down, and this hauntingly open-hearted ballad does just that. He takes the punch and tells all with lush emotional underpinnings that can easily put time-tested love songs on the ropes. It’s a knockout with great assists from Pat Kelley on guitar and Dan Lutz on bass.
There’s plenty more groove left on this CD, leaving you to go another round with “Have a Good Time” (Paul Simon) with lots of orchestration, to Rodgers and Hart “I Wish I Were in Love Again” and, of course, the title cut by Trotter and Winkler. And upon listening to this CD for the fifth time, I have come to realize that Winkler is the new “Sonny” Liston of songwriters. Yes, I said it. He is definitely a world heavyweight champion. When he threw this CD into the ring, he just killed it. My three four-letter words: Find. This. Disc.
