Thank
you for visiting my website!
Thanks to all
who turned out for the CD release party
at Jimmy Mak's. We filled the place
and had a blast! I was joined by my
good friend Joe Millward on piano, Marty
Higgins on drums, Dennis Caiazza on
bass, Paul Mazzio on trumpet, my pal
and Pressure Point band mate Danny Schauffler
on tenor and flute and last but certainly
not least my lovely and talented daughter
Lynn Winkle on baritone sax. Thanks
to KMHD radio for helping me promote
the event. A special thanks to Shirley
Nanette for her encouragement and loving
"suggestions".
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 concert
at The Old Church sometime this summer.
My new CD is
recorded and should be released this
fall. It is entitled "The Only
Dream That Ever Mattered" and features
a pretty wide range of styles. I think
it is a good representation of my influences
and showcases some incredible local
musicians. Please enjoy the audio samples
below and the full CD will be available
in the fall.
Recently, I
had the extreme pleasure of performing
with international recording artist
Tom Grant and his group at Gracie's
located in The Hotel DeLuxe (formerly
The Mallory). This is a stunningly restored
vintage hotel and perhaps the hippest
live music venue in town. I have also
been performing at a cool little wine
bar in Milwaukie called Arrivadercis.
The venue boasts a casual atmosphere,
great food, and one of the best wine
selections in the area. Please see the
schedule for performance dates.
Michael
Winkle Jazz Performance Schedule.
I also wanted
to mention and mourn the passing of
Alexander's at The Hilton. This was
a great venue for live music and I certainly
enjoyed performing there. Hopefully
the corporate folks that run the Hilton
will realize that they made a mistake
and bring back a very popular and much
needed live music venue.
My concert trip
to Japan was a fabulous experience and
I hope to return. 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.
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.
wanabe. 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!
