CD Review: Mark Winkler - Jazz And Other Four Letter Words

(Review by Ann Alex)

Definitely my CD of the month!  This is the happiest jazz CD I’ve ever heard, swinging, witty lyrics, good musicianship, with piano strongly featured.  Five of the eleven tracks are originals with lyrics by Mark Winkler.  For instance Your Cat Plays Piano (he’s obviously been watching U-tube)‘...mostly on the black keys/ I can swear he’s a jazzer/ ‘cos he will not play the melody.’

Or consider the romantic I Chose The Moon, a love song for his partner of 34 years, ‘cos when the moon shines/ it shines through your eyes’.

The other originals are My Idea Of A Good Time; Stay Hip; Jazz And Other Four Letter Words, and this latter song literally lists the relevant words, such as Bing, coop, dink, Ella, frog, which are also playfully listed on the back inside CD cover.

The other 6 tracks are I’m Hip (a wonderful piece of satire about the state of being hip and made famous by Blossom Dearie. It's sung as a duet here with Man Trans' Cheryl Bentyne); Nice Work if You Can Get It (sung as a slow swing but with great optimism); Paul Simon’s Have A Good Time (with 8 of the musicians in a big band type of arrangement); I Wish I Were In Love Again; I Never Went Away (a surprise inclusion, a jazzy song by classical composer Richard Rodney Bennett); and a short medley of songs about New York.

Mark Winkler hails from Southern California and is a platinum award winner and a producer and educator.  He has had over 200 of his songs recorded or sung by such people as Randy Crawford and Dee Dee Bridgewater, which doesn’t surprise me at all, as he really knows how to write songs.  One of his many CD’s, Jazz And Other Four Letter Words is released on August 1 on Cafe Pacific Records, Catalogue # CPCD45125. (Check it out here).

Ann Alex .   

Mark Winkler (vocals); Cheryl Bentyne (vocals on 2 tracks) Jamieson Trotter (piano, most arrangements); John Clayton (bass); Jeff Hamilton (drums); Mike Shapiro (drums); Dan Lutz (bass); Larry Koonse (Guitar); Pat Kelley (Guitar); Bob Sheppard (tenor sax); Rich Eames (piano, some arrangements); Kirsten Edkins (tenor sax); Bob McChesney (trombone); Walt Fowler (trumpet)

(Collective personnel)