Mark Winkler: Late Bloomin' Jazzman

Veteran singer, platinum-selling lyricist and songwriter Mark Winkler delivers his twentieth album as leader, Late Bloomin' Jazzman, beginning with a George Gershwin standard, ending with a Gershwin tribute and, in between, presenting romantic ballads, a bit of swing and a touch of bossa. An educator at UCLA who teaches the art of songwriting, Winkler brings this remarkable talent to the fore on this album, providing his own lyrics to seven of the twelve songs which he suddenly realized "talk about getting 'older' in all of its many dimensions..." which explains the title and theme of the project.

After the opening Gershwin standard "It Ain't Necessarily So" and the Michael Franks song "Don't Be Blue," Winkler's lyrical prowess begins to emerge on four superb pieces starting with Joe DePasquale's "When All the Lights in the Sign Worked" followed by the Eli Brueggemann-composed title track, and also on "In Another Way," before culminating and shining brightly with an outstanding treatment of Bill Cantos's "Bossa Nova Days" clearly one of the memorable songs of this date.

The Burton Lane classic "Old Devil Moon" is re-imagined here, sounding almost like a fresh new sound even though the singer kept to the established lyrics of the song. Winkler sings with heartfelt emotion on two beautiful love ballads "I Always Had A Thing For You," and "Before You Leave." He includes two of pianist Jamieson Trotter's compositions enhanced by his own lyrics on "Old Enough" and "Marlena's Memories" before closing the session with David Lucky's "If Gershwin Had Lived," capped off with some more of his inventive lyrics.

Prominently featured on this album are Winkler's supporting cast of LA's finest musicians, including saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist extraordinaire Grant Geissman bassist John Clayton and drummer Christian Euman among others. It is certain that Mark Winkler is getting older, as we all do; unlike most, perhaps like a vintage wine, he is also getting better with time, as Late Bloomin' Jazzman plainly attests.