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Jazz Articles about Mark Winkler
Mark Winkler: The Company I Keep
by C. Michael Bailey
The utility of music, at its very core, is entertainment. It is not all about dissonance and consonance, tonal conflict and resolution; heart and intellect, pathos and ethos. Somewhere in everything music has to offer, there must be a smile. It is in music's smile that vocalist Mark Winkler exists. An elegant West Coast mainstay, vocalist/lyricist/composer Winkler, drove across my radar first with his 2011 recording Sweet Spot (Café Pacific Records). I was struck by how well Winkler could skirt ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: Jazz and Other Four Letter Words
by Bruce Lindsay
On Jazz And Other Four Letter Words songwriter and vocalist Mark Winkler explores themes of love and romance and also takes time to investigate hipness. Exploration and investigation succeed joyously, resulting in one of the year's finest releases. Winkler's aided and abetted by some fine musicians-- pianist Jamieson Trotter (who also arranged most of the songs) and bassists Dan Lutz and John Clayton prove to be especially sympathetic. The Manhattan Transfer's Cheryl Bentyne duets with Winkler on two ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: Jazz and Other Four Letter Words
by Dan Bilawsky
Vocalist Mark Winkler has been something of a victim of his own talent: his work as a vocalist has often been routinely overlooked, largely eclipsed by his renown as a songwriter. But the tide seems to be turning for this cool school singer-of-note. With the critical success and positive public response to The Laura Nyro Project (Cafe Pacific Records, 2013), the arrival of his duo project with Cheryl Bentyne--West Coast Cool (Summit Records, 2013)--and this hipper-than-hip outing, Winkler is finally ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: Jazz and Other Four Letter Words
by C. Michael Bailey
Singer and lyricist Mark Winkler has been a common West Coast sight for many years. He has released seven releases, his previous one being the very well-received duet recording with {Manhattan Transfer}}'s soprano Cheryl Bentyne, West Coast Cool (Summit Records, 2013). That recording was right on the heels of Winkler's thematically motivated The Laura Nyro Project (Café Pacific, 2013). Again, well received and making my end-of-the-year list. Winkler returns with the clever Jazz and Other Four Letter ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: Peeling Back the Onion
by Scott Mitchell
Mark Winkler is a Los Angeles-based jazz singer, lyricist, and songwriter with over 150 songs to his credit and platinum records hanging on his wall. He has written songs with the likes of saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Wayne Shorter and Joshua Redman, as well as pianist David Benoit. Singers Randy Crawford, Dianne Reeves, Lea Salonga, Bob Dorough and Liza Minnelli have recorded and performed his songs. JazzTimes Magazine recognized Winkler as one of the top ten male jazz singers in 2011 ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: The Laura Nyro Project
by C. Michael Bailey
The combination of a unique and beautifully au courant voice with an equally rare and manifold composing talent makes for compelling listening. When the voice is that of vocalist/songwriter Mark Winkler and the songs are by Laura Nyro, the resulting project reaches criticality rapidly. Winkler has been composing and recording for the better part of 30 years, releasing ten recordings and penning upwards to 150 songs in that time. His previous recording, Sweet Spot (Cafe Pacific Records, 2011) was praised ...
Continue ReadingMark Winkler: Sweet Spot
by AAJ Italy Staff
Che sfacciato Mark Winkler. Si fa fotografare con un lecca lecca in bocca come se fosse Katy Perry. Ma al contrario della provocante cantante pop, il losangelino qualche qualità nella voce ce le ha davvero. In giro da almeno 25 anni, un'idea di cosa dovrebbe essere la canzone swing l'ha dimostrata: dolcezza, bel canto e tanta professionalità. Prima di Michael Bublé, Winkler ha saputo introdurre quel sapore pop che spinge oltre gli standard jazz. Poi ama circondarsi di turnisti assolutamente ...
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