Multi-talented Mark Winkler and Cheryl Bentyne team up for a delightfully engaging look back at the “West Coast Cool” sound of the 1950s
One of the few male / female duets in vocal jazz that finds both participants working on equal footing. Grammy winner Cheryl Bentyne turns in her finest effort in a decade and Mark Winkler continues to wow audiences and critics alike with his spot on vocal performances which seem to grow by leaps and bounds with each subsequent release. Rich Eames handles the majority of the arrangements including “Let’s Get Lost” and a masterful medley in “Route 66 / Alright, Okay, You Win / Straighten Up And Fly Right.” Bentyne and Winkler have that rare chemistry that allows for the connectivity with an audience to be believable and delightfully entertaining. The danger in this type of release is predictability and we find it here in spades, but in a good way. The worst thing that could happen to tunes such as “This Could Be The Start Of Something Big” and “Lemon Twist” would be attempting to tweak these tunes too much. Never mess with a good melody. The intangibles pushing this release over the top and include appearances by saxophone ace Bob Sheppard along with arrangements from all star pianist Tamir Hendelman on the Bobby Troup tune “Hungry Man.” Continue reading