Greeting
Thank you for visiting my website!
I wanted to mention the passing of one of my favorite musicians, Kenny Rankin. Kenny was an amazing vocalist who blurred the line between jazz and pop and inspired me to attempt that in my own way. He was unique and will be missed.
I am so excited about a show that we are putting together for August 26th at Tony Starlight's. I am calling this Mike Winkle "Under The Influence" and it covers nearly every artist, composer, band that I have been influenced by since time began. It should be at least interesting from an historical perspective and ranges from early 60's to contemporary with many stops in between. If you haven't been to Tony Starlight's yet, it truly is a great venue for live music and features an excellent bar and menu. Please join us for this musical journey through the past 40 some years.
We have been having fun with our Chet Baker Tribute. Chet was a big influence on my singing and I love performing the tunes that first brought him to my attention. I have teamed with my pal Joe Millward on piano, Marty Higgins on drums, Dennis Caiazza bass, and the great Paul Mazzio on trumpet. We have done a couple of nights at Tony Starlight's and the show has been warmly received. Thanks to those who braved the rain and came out to Tony Starlight's last month. The band sounded great and we had big fun! My daughter Lynn played Bari. with us and she was awesome!
It has been brought to my attention that both of my Cd's are still getting quite a bit of air play on KMHD, KBOO and KPSU. Thanks to all of the disc jockeys that help to keep the "dream" alive.
Thanks to Noah Peterson for his fund raising effort at Jimmy Mak's the other night and inviting me to perform. If I could only convince Jimmy to give me a gig............
I have been playing at a cool little wine bar in Milwaukie called Arrivedercis about once a month with a couple of my Pressure Point band mates Chuck Everett on guitar and Matt Lotz on piano. We pretty much play what we want and hope folks like it! Arrivedecis boasts a casual atmosphere, great food, and one of the best wine selections in the area!
I am in the planning stages of putting together a benefit concert for The Oregon Food Bank at The Old Church sometime this Fall. The need is huge and hopefully we can help..
Please check out "Salvation Begins" and "The Prayer" in the audio samples section. Both of these songs are very meaningful and personal to me as one speaks of my own journey in coming to Christ and the other was one of the first opportunities to sing at Southlake Four Square Church. Southlake is a wonderful place to worship and the band, singers and leadership are phenominal! I am blessed to a part of such an amazing team!
Some past highlights!!
My concert trip to Japan in 2005 still rates as a major highlight. I had the pleasure of performing two dates at The Mamo Club in Gifu, Japan. This is a little hole in the wall jazz club that has seen the likes of Sonny Stitt, Howard Roberts, and recently Nicholas Payton, who performed there the weekend after me. I was thrilled to play with a local trio called The Kanpei Trio. The owner was a delightful gentleman who informed me that he used to play guitar in a country western band in Osaka in the 60's. One of the most indelible memories of the trip will be singing Buck Owens songs and drinking Suntory whiskey with the owner of this great little jazz club in Japan. The musicians were first rate and we had a ball despite the language barrier. The audiences were very responsive and we were treated like stars. When I returned to Portland, I had a gig with a great trio where were politely ignored. Back to reality.Still makes me chuckle!
On the lighter side, it was brought to my attention that somehow I was brought up in a Kurt Elling blog. The blog started out complimenting my CD and then deteriorated into a name calling session with variations of my name not heard since grade school. I was compared to a bad Justin Timberlake impersonator and a Harry Connick Jr. wannabe. At first I didn't quite know what to think. The obvious question is why would these folks be discussing me in the first place? As the 'discussion' continued, the bloggers turned on each other. It is my contention that drugs, alcohol, and computers don't mix very well. You 'gotta' love it!
Personal Highlight!:
My wife and I became Grandparents this past year and Anna Michelle Winkle is such a blessing! I almost forgot how wonderful little ones can be. I may be biased but I believe she is the smartest and most beautiful child in the history of the world!