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Vocalist
and songwriter MARK WINKLER is a mainstay on the Los Angeles
jazz scene with a devoted fan base who packs his live performances. A
prolific recording artist, Winkler has produced 20 previous albums,
nearly one a year for the past several years. Downbeat Magazine
said in their 4-star review of his 2022 release, Late Bloomin’
Jazzman, “Mark Winkler is an unsung hero of West Coast jazz. The
singer and lyricist has been quietly churning out idiosyncratic
hipster songs with a slightly retro feel for years. His 20th album,
Late Bloomin’ Jazzman, may just be his best.” Winkler is now
releasing his 21st album, THE RULES DON’T APPLY,
his most ambitious project yet.
Winkler
always works with some of the best musicians in town, like on his
2021 release, Old Friends, a collaboration with pianist David
Benoit, or Eastern Standard Time, on which he shared the
microphone with The Manhattan Transfer’s soprano Cheryl Bentyne. His
albums usually feature a standard jazz trio with a couple of horns.
For THE RULES DON’T APPLY, he brought on board 16 top
musicians who play in various combinations. The musicians include
Grammy-winning pianist, composer, and arranger JOHN BEASLEY,
reedman KATISSE BUCKINGHAM, drummer CLAYTON CAMERON,
bassist GABE DAVIS, guitarist GEORGE DOERING, pianist
and arranger RICH EAMES, Grammy-nominated guitarist GRANT
GEISSMAN, sax player DANNY JANKLOW, bassist DAN LUTZ,
tuba player ERROL RHODEN, drummer DAN SCHNELL, reedman BOB
SHEPPARD, pianist and arranger GREG GORDON SMITH,
trumpeter BRIAN SWARTZ, pianist and arranger JAMIESON TROTTER,
percussionist KEVIN WINARD, trombonist SCOTT WHITFIELD,
and baritone saxophonist SCOTT MAYO. The album was produced by
BARBARA BRIGHTON, who also produced eight of Winkler’s
previous albums.
Winkler
is a prolific lyricist whose songs have been recorded or performed by
a Who’s Who of well-known singers, including Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Steve Tyrell, Claire Martin, Jackie Ryan, Randy
Crawford, Cheryl Bentyne, Kenny Rankin, Jane Monheit, and Ben Vereen,
among others. Liza Minnelli titled her CD Tropical Nights
after one of Winkler’s songs. The roster of Winkler’s collaborators
is equally impressive and includes David Benoit, Wayne Shorter, Joe
Sample, Dexter Gordon, Dianne Reeves, Wes Montgomery, and Lorraine
Feather. He is also a producer who has worked on a number of CDs for
other vocal artists.
As
a song stylist, Winkler’s range is wide and deep. He can swing like a
horn player, touch hearts with a sensitive ballad, and deliver a
humorous song with a sly wink. He captures all of these moods on THE
RULES DON’T APPLY. Winkler wrote lyrics for eight of the
original songs on the album. He also included five of his favorite
tunes written by Paul Simon, Lennon and McCartney, Eddie Arkin and
Lorraine Feather, Donald Fagen, and Randy Newman. In order to capture
a variety of styles, he also worked with four different arrangers,
John Beasley, Jamieson Trotter, Greg Gordon Smith and Rich Eames, his
main accompanist.
Besides
his great singing chops and engaging lyrics, Winkler’s appeal,
especially to live audiences, is his authenticity. At this point in
his long career, he was not going to change that. He has been feeling
that many older jazz artists are not perhaps getting the attention
they deserve and wanted to represent that on this album.
Winkler
says, “I’m a 74-year-old Jewish gay man, and I really feel my
creative powers have not diminished in the slightest. When I listen
to the radio or see Spotify playlists, the younger artists are
rightly getting the attention they deserve, but I don’t think that
attention should be at the expense of older artists who are still
doing great work.”
A
Los Angeles native, Winkler opens the album with “Sunday in L.A.,”
composed and arranged by Greg Gordon Smith. Winkler says, “I really
love L.A. There’s plenty of culture, a diverse landscape and the
weather can’t be beat. But the traffic is pretty bad … except on
Sundays, which has become my favorite day to play in L.A.”
Other
Winkler originals include “The Joy of Singing,” composed by Winkler,
Nic Chamberlain and Jameison Trotter. Growing up, Winkler and his
family would gather around the piano and sing songs together on Friday
nights. The song is an homage to the seductive joy of singing and to
his late brother Bob. “In Love in New York” is an easy swing tune
composed by Michele Brourman. The urbane performance of the song
“Witchcraft,” sung by Cy Coleman on the TV show Playboy After Dark,
stayed with Winkler all these years and was the inspiration for this
song.
The
song “Just Around the Corner” is Winkler’s statement about moving the
music into the next era. As his lyrics say, “Why do we have to do everything
like it’s been done? / Shakin’ up nice and predictable’s half of the
fun. / I don’t dig déjà vu, make it new—reach for the stars. / And if
not the stars / Maybe the sun.” Winkler honors the renowned Capitol
Records Studio with a small, big band take on his song “If These
Walls Could Talk (They’d Sing) - “The room is dark, but in the light
/ Nat Cole’s Steinway’s on my right / A microphone, a swivel chair /
Sinatra used to sing from there.”
With
Bob Sheppard’s cool clarinet playing, “Jazz Swings” is a bluesy
homage to the art form. Winkler celebrates the wisdom that comes from
age and experience on his moody song “Lessons I’ve Learned.” Winkler
closes the album with “Here’s to Jazz,” his hip love song to jazz,
composed by Jamiesson Trotter.
Winkler covers Donald Fagen’s hopeful tune “I.G.Y.
(What a Beautiful World).” He has an interesting connection to Fagen.
Winkler actually came a hair’s breadth away from being the lead
singer for Steely Dan when they were just starting out. Everyone in
the band wanted him, but Fagen wanted to be the band’s singer, and
the rest is history. Winkler
loves the Beatles and even teaches their lyrics in his classes. John
Beasley arranged “Got to Get You into My Life” as a jazz tune. The
Lennon and McCartney song is one of Winkler’s favorites. Winkler
approaches a song like an actor approaches a script. He visualizes
himself as a character singing the song, which is why he never before
sang Paul Simon’s “Something So Right,” because he never saw himself
as the protagonist of the song. However, working with his producer
Barbara Brighton, he found a way of approaching the character that
resonated with him. As a fellow singer/songwriter, Winkler feels a
lot of connection to Randy Newman and decided to do a raucous, New Orleans-inspired
version of Newman’s “Mama Told Me No to Come,” featuring Errol Rhoden
on tuba.
Mark
Winkler’s music is always fun with a hipness that would not be out of
place in a smoky jazz club in the 1950s, yet still keeping a
contemporary edge. With its various jazz styles and different band
configurations, THE RULES DON’T APPLY takes Winkler’s
hipness to a whole new level.
# # #
THE
RULES DON’T APPLY will be released on Café Pacific Records and available
at Amazon and all streaming platforms on January 12, 2024.
Online:
Markwinklermusic.com
facebook.com/mark.winkler.10
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