MARCH 2009                                                      L.A. JAZZ SCENE - Page 3 Songwriter / Vocalist By Myrna Daniels      To be a working musician or vocalist in today's jazz scene means that life can be precarious at times. The music business is not the same. Gone are the days when strong labels could sign a new artist and nurture a career along, year after year. They provided the publicity people who would beat the drums for the artist, arranging interviews, photo ops, and so on... Managers/agents would line up gigs all around the world. Others would coax airplay and record sales. Ah, it was a wonderful system, designed to promote a long, long career. What we have today is enhanced technology, which for artists means, you'd-better-do-it-yourself or you die! As sales shrink in all categories, labels have disappeared and artists cut loose. It's a brand new, scary world that separates the tough from the timid.      After sitting in clubs reviewing Mark Winkler's performances I caught on real quick. This guy is the real thing. He sings, writes lyrics for tunes, alone or with collaborators, writes musicials, which draw audiences, makes records and ultimately, is an entertainer. His shows are never predictable; he works with outstanding musicians and with his tunes he sets a mood, be it a happy go lucky, get up and move tune, or a poignant ballad about the human condition called love. He is a poet who never goes for the trite. His CDs are well thought out, well produced gems. When he gets an idea, he does it well. His last CD was a tribute to the late, great composer Bobby Troup, who was a hip as they come. Winkler works with that and does songs like "Route 66" and "Lemon Twist" his own way, also adding his own tunes to the mix.      A true entertainer cannot do all these things without having a serious spark of creativity. Winkler is an artist who sees the whole picture, a bigger picture than most. He is promoting his new CD now, titled Mark Winkler  Till I Get It Right (for FreeHam Records). Later this month, he'll be debuting it at Catalina Bar & Grill. His friends and fans will be out, ready for the terrific show he always puts together. The CD has impressive collaborators such as music composed by Ivan Lins, Joshua Redman, Mike Melvoin and Marilyn Harris, a frequent musical partner. He has written lyrics that are so creative and beautiful and funny, it makes me shake my head in wonder. "How Can That Make You Fat?" or "How To Pack A Suitcase" are one part of his personality. "In A Lonely Place" is another part he wants to share. Winkler also has a good ear for talent so he's working with pianist Jamieson Trotter, who arranged most of the tunes. We'll be hearing more about the very talented Trotter in the future. Winkler is a nice guy and his creative soul helps him to choose great people to work with. I highly recommend a Mark Winkler Show anytime, anyplace. Oh yes, one last thing. The modest title to the CD, Till I Get It Right. I don't know about that. For my money, Mark Winkler got it right a long time ago.   LA JAZZ: When you're ready to make a CD, what's the process: how much time do you take in prepping? For example, how much time does it take to gather musicians, choose songs and so on? Do you record more than you might need? Who helps you to select the final tracks? WINKLER: That's why I have the fantastic Barbara Brighton as my producer. She's done my last two projects, and when I started prepping to record Till I Get It Right, my new CD, she was there from the beginning. First, we narrowed down the songs I'd co-written that we both liked. There were a million of them, because I hadn't done a CD of original Winkler lyrics for 6 years. Then we started looking at a couple of outside tunes for the CD. She brought me this lovely Steve Allen gem called "Spring Is Where You Are." Actually, she's been after me for about 10 years to do the tune - and I'm so glad I listened to her. She next put me together with this wonderful keyboardist and arranger, Jamieson Trotter, son of Terry Trotter, and we really clicked and then she brought in Dan Lutz (who'd done her Young Jazz Artists Series a few moons ago) on bass, Bob Sheppard on sax and Steve Hass on drums. Once I decided to do the CD it took about 2 months to get the arrangements right, musicians set, etc. continued on the next page   MARCH 2009                                                      L.A. JAZZ SCENE - Page 4 Songwriter/Vocalist Mark Winkler ON CREATIVITY (cont.) We did end up dropping a song, that just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the tracks - and we decided on that together. By this time we were really in synch. LA JAZZ: How important is the producer? Does the producer take on some of these tasks or is recording such a personal effort that only you can make the decisions? Is the producer the "manager" of the project or is there an opportunity for a creative collaboration? WINKLER: It's really essential for me to have an outside eye - a producer. Because it is so personal with me. Because I'm singing and writing the lyrics for most of the tunes, I need someone to tell me my baby (song) is ugly, I'm singing flat and by the way stop eating so much of the musicians' cheese dip! Barbara's great at all these things. Every singer needs a "Barbara" in the control room guiding them along to a great performance. It's a lovely collaboration. Another part of our team is the magnificent Geoff Gillette who engineered the record. But the real reason I love Geoff is he's a great finger snapper - he snaps on at least two songs on this CD and he is flawless. LA JAZZ: On a business level: do you manage your own career or do you have help with that? Do you use an accountant, attorney, secretary, assistant, etc.? I assume that all these people will help find more time to be creative. Is that true? WINKLER: I do most of it myself. I wish I had an assistant! I hate making CD copies, filing lead sheets - the grunt work - but here's my advice to musicians who are complaining about not getting things done. Stop watching TV - it's my trick. I love Keith Olbermann more than anyone, but if I have to finish a lyric - Goodbye MSNBC! LA JAZZ: I have a hard time finding "quiet time" so I can organize my tasks, to just think. How do you make time to do the important things in your life? WINKLER: I have my rituals. They're very important to me. I like to go to my office - thank heavens I have one - and I have a favorite overstuffed chair, I have my Sharpie and I always start out writing on a yellow legal pad and then switch to my computer on the 2nd rewrite. What comes first - the music or the lyric? Well, I'm bi-textual. On the new CD I wrote quite a few of the lyrics to exciting jazz melodies. I love this one Joshua Redman CD Beyond, and my friend Lori Barth and I wrote a lyric to this tune of Joshua's that was in a 5/4 time signature, very unsettling - the minute I heard it, a 60s foreign film started running through my head. I was dressed all in black reading a Dear John letter while I smoked unfiltered French cigarettes with snow falling around me. Listen, I really get into these things. Luckily Joshua Redman liked the lyric and the song is on the new CD. Bob Sheppard plays a killer sax solo on it. It's called, "Lowercase." LA JAZZ: Are you writing lyrics all the time? Or do you just wait to be inspired by something? For example, I "write" all the time in my head. I think about something I want to write about constantly before I actually write it out. Does that happen to you? WINKLER: Yes, it does happen to me. Sometimes I have these songs in my head for a very long time. There's a song on the new CD which I've been nursing for 4 years. It's my trouble child - but I'm a tenacious guy and I wouldn't give up on it. It's called, "You Might As Well Live" - it's been through two melody writers and at least 16 lyrical rewrites by me. I actually didn't know it was going to be on the CD until the day we recorded it. At the rehearsal, it just wasn't coming together and Barbara Brighton, my producer, came up to me and said it wasn't working for her. But luckily Janieson said he thought he knew what was wrong and would work on the arrangement that night. We recorded this CD like the old Frank Sinatra albums at Capitol with me singing while the whole band is playing - so I came into the session that day not knowing if this was the first or the last time I'd be singing that song. But there is a God because Obama got elected and somehow from Jamieson's first note the song was magic - those are the things that you just can't explain. LA JAZZ: I think that creative people need to be out in the world, hearing music of all kinds, going to movies, plays, museums, traveling, reading, being out in nature, taking everything in, for inspiration, ideas, a spark of insight. Do you feel that way or do you stay at home and let the world in via TV, radio, the internet or by other means? WINKLER: First of all, I love to go out. The LA Jazz community is really very strong - and I'm going to clubs all the time seeing my friends perform. That's how I got on my new label actually - FreeHam Records. It's run by this very cool Singer/Renaissance man Michael Konik and he used to host Tasty Tuesdays at Catalina's for 3 years. So many of my friends would sing there, Barbara Morrison, Cheryl Barnes, David Basse - that I got to know him and finally guested one night with him. It was a great night - the band was outrageous and we even got this stellar review in the LA Times by Don Heckman. So when I was working on the CD I was just talking to Michael and he asked me who was releasing it - and I said I was looking. He asked me what I wanted, I told him, he agreed and that was pretty much it. Some of my label mates are the wonderful singers, Charmaine Clamor, Linda Hopkins and Mon David. I've met a lot of collaborators by digging a musician I see live. There's this wonderful new pianist named Eli Bruggermann whom I first saw at Catalina's. We got together and he wrote a "Mose Allison-y" kind of melody for me that I turned into "How Can That Make You Fat?" that's on the new CD. I'm always on the lookout for people who can make me better. LA JAZZ: Do you have hobbies that you get wrapped up in, to relax or to just get away from your music life? WINKLER: I'm a big movie buff, so that's the chief method I use to relax. My favorite movies are "film noir". Actually, one of the songs on the new CD is based on a great Humphrey Bogart film noir called In A Lonely Place. In it Humphrey plays a down on his luck screenwriter accused of continued on the next page MARCH 2009                                                      L.A. JAZZ SCENE - Page 5 Songwriter/Vocalist Mark Winkler ON CREATIVITY (cont.) murdering a hat check girl. Gloria Grahame (one of my faves) falls in love with him and through the whole movie doesn't know if at any minute he's going to kiss her or strangle her. Very dark - well I wrote a theme song for this film with one of my favorite collaborators Marilyn Harris - and I think it turned out aces with just a muted trumpet by Ron Blake. I was just 53 years too late in writing it - but maybe it can turn up as a DVD extra! The other song I have on my new CD that is inspired by the movies is "Sissies" which is about the great writer Tuman Capote. I saw both Capote and then about a year later another film called Infamous which were both about Truman while he was writing his book In Cold Blood and I just became fascinated with this small man with such a large ability to be himself and to operate in a world not that sympathetic to Gay men with high voices and outlandish behavior. I did my first YouTube video for it - and it shows Sissies through the ages! LA JAZZ: Do you have an ultimate, grand ambition that you might be looking forward to, something you can accomplish in the future? WINKLER: I am full of grand ambitions, Myrna. As you know, I've been writing musicals for the last ten years - so one of my goals is definitely to have one of them go to Broadway and win the Tony. My latest musical is a film noir jazz piece, Play It Cool - it sort of encapsulates everything I like - and it had a successful run at the New York Music Theatre Festival at the end of last year - as a matter of fact it was just nominated for Best Musical-Off Broadway by GLAAD - so I hope that goes to Broadway. My other grand ambition is to rise a level or two in the jazz firmament. I want to be Dave Frishberg when I grow up - sort of mixed with Mark Murphy - I told you I'm ambitious. Hopefully Till I Get It Right will help do that. LA JAZZ: The music business is not easy; what advice would you give a young person today, who is trying to get started, find a niche? WINKLER: My advice to young people is to learn the most they can about their craft, go to teachers, play an instrument, know the history of what you're doing. I think it's the job of a young artist today to know who Eddie Jefferson or Jon Hendricks or Anita O'Day is and not just Norah Jones or the flavor of the month. Plus, you have to get to a place where you are your own singer or instrumentalist - you've got to have something to say only you can tell us. If you can't do that, get outta town! One of my good friends Judy Wexler is a great example of that. She still takes singing lessons, is always digging out some great song by Blossom Dearie or Oscar Brown, Jr. that no one is singing and is forever working on her craft - and guess what folks, she's getting better and better. LA JAZZ: What are the artists who are inspiring you or teaching you something new today? WINKLER: Jamie Cullum is a gas, Lorraine Feather is a world class lyricist and talent and of course, Mark Murphy is a constant source of inspiration for me. One of the neatest things that happened to me recently is that he wrote the liner notes for the new CD - and he really liked my album. It blew my mind! Now when I get him on the phone he calls me "honey" and "baby" - what a trip. LA JAZZ: Are you satisfied with what you have accomplished so far? WINKLER: It seems I'm never totally satisfied, but that's what probably keeps me coming back for me - but I'm very happy with the new CD. I must take a moment to say that the people on it were not only fantastic as players, but supportive and trouble free as could be. Dan Lutz came in early to the session for heavens sake! They all do their homework - and Bob Sheppard after one take of "You Might As Well Live" where I was a little "famished" put his hand on my shoulder and told me how great he thought it was - just lovely. Hey, they're all going to be with me at my CD release party at Catalina's - including Cheryl Bentyne - who aced her vocal with me on "Cool" in one take! I nominate her as the nicest woman in Show Biz. So, I have to say I have lots I want to do, but I'm proud of what I've done. I've been recording since 1982! I'll be doing this "Till I Get It Right" - and loving every minute of it! 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