Mark Winkler/David Benoit
Old Friends
(Café Pacific)
January 25, 2021
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
Mark Winkler has a cottony voice with a natural lilt. The songs unfold. Phrases may end by fading/turning to powder. Dropped g’s sound natural. Winkler considers the lyrics. Pianist David Benoit delivers pristine sound, sculpting melody like pliable clay. The arrangements are often subtly original.
Bob Dorough’s “I’ve Got Just About Everything” arrives up-tempo with ‘50s-feel piano. Winkler’s vocal is soft edged, but nimble; infectiously “up.” “Better Than Anything” (Bill Loughborough/David Wheat) owes its tone to a stylishly swinging guitar (Pat Kelley) and nimble-fingered piano. Personalized lyrics keep it from universality. “The Shadow of Your Smile” wafts in on a subtle guitar. A classic, country-club dance arrangement is nothing new, but deftly executed. Surprisingly, the vocal doesn’t land invested.
Henry Mancini/Leslie Bricusse’s “Two for the Road,” on the other hand, takes us on a touching journey. Memories float. Winkler is poignant, affecting. The song’s arrangement varies to reflect different moods within passing time, yet holds true to the through line. David Benoit/Mark Winkler/Heather Perram Frank’s “Thirty Years (Only Sunshine Days)” is a story song. Winkler performs as if reflecting in real time. Piano cajoles.
“When This Love Affair Is Over” (Peter Allen/David Foster) sounds like muted pop. “Time” becomes “tahm.” Piano muses. The keyboard makes this a tad schmaltzy. The adjective also applies to “I Wish I’d Met You” (Johnny Mandel/Richard Rodney Bennett/Frank Underwood). A sentimental song, it’s the only one on the CD that overstacks the deck.
Particularly appealing numbers include “Sweet Kentucky Ham” (Dave Frishberg) in which deft phrasing conjures everything from geography to weather. ‘A cool song performed with comprehension. “Old Friends”/ “Bookends” (Paul Simon) finds Winkler playing a bit with melody, making it his own. Cello (Stefanie Fife) and classical piano parentheses add immeasurably. And in “Some Other Time” (Leonard Bernstein/Betty Comden & Adolph Green) in which the vocal wistfully shrugs and sighs, we picture “him,” hands in pockets, brows raised, on a solitary walk.
