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 Clubscene
Review of Michael
Winkle - January 17, 2008 - Jimmy
Mak's
Michael Winkle
- vocals
Joe Millward- piano
Paul Mazzio- flugelhorn
Dan Schauffler- tenor sax
Lynn Winkle- baritone sax
Dennis Caiazza - bass
The highly accomplished
vocalist, Mike Winkle, did Jimmy Mak
a nice favor last night: Winkle opened
the set of his CD Release performance,
beautifully augmented by a superb band,
and immediately the temperature in the
room soared. No heating bill for Jimmy
this cold winter night! Winkle started
off on an eighteen tune, almost non-stop
musical marathon with an up tempo “Nature
Boy" and there was no turning back.
Already in this first tune, Mike established
himself solidly as a wonderfully controlled
singer, able when necessary to display
a lovely vibrato one moment, and an
almost Torme-like softness the next,
yet also to demonstrate an impressive
set of strong pipes able to take a melody
flawlessly to a rousing crescendo. This
man can sing!
What else was
immediately obvious was the quality
and variety in pianist, Joe Millward's,
precise and swinging arrangements, brought
to vibrant life in literally every number
performed. That meant that a large and
enthusiastic audience was treated to
Paul Mazzio's glorious flugelhorn riffs
in a number of tunes, Dan Schauffler's
romping tenor on others, Dennis Caiazza
's strong bass lines and tasty selected
solos, nice deep tone baritone sax touches
from Winkle's daughter, Lynn, and all
beautifully underpinned by Millward's
fine and imaginative piano work and
Marty Higgins' solid, right-on drumming.
Impressive too
was Mike Winkle's programming for the
evening. He kicked off the evening right
on time and finished up exactly where
he'd planned to! It was a great ride,
and included such gems as "You
make Me Feel So Young," "Blame
It On My Youth" (beautifully and
sweetly rendered by all,) a slow-tempo
"If I Only Had a Heart," a
lovely original composition, "I
Guess I Knew," nicely sung and
laced with a goose-bumper of a Mazzio
solo, "100 Years," definitely
a Winkle kind of tune, allowing him
to fully display his control and vocal
range, a Carole King ballad out of the
sixties, and a shouter, "I Don't
like You No More," a down and dirty
Joe Williams gem. And more, including
Al Green's “Let's Stay Together"
which had the crowd on its feet and
singing nostalgically along!
It's always tempting
when hearing singers to play the "sounds
like" game. I know I caught echoes
of Bobby Darin, Mel Torme, Sinatra,
and Jack Jones. Nobody grows up in a
vacuum: if we're alive, we absorb things.
But what struck me about Mike Winkle
is that - at this juncture in a career
that has included forays in and out
of various musical genres - he's a genuinely
accomplished jazz vocalist with a voice
all his own. He knows how to use it,
and has the good sense and good fortune
to have surrounded himself with an arranger
and a group of players that, together,
produce a gorgeous sound! In my view,
Mike Winkle and the band are another
high point on the Portland jazz scene!
And I stayed
warm all the way home!
Bernie
Knab
The
Only Dream, Michael Winkle, vocals.
Just when you’re sure that the
male of the species has virtually disappeared
from the realm of quality jazz/pop singing,
along comes Michael Winkle to set your
mind at ease. Michael’s new CD
is a mixed bag of proven standards (“You
Make Me Feel So Young,” “Blame
It On My Youth,” “Summertime”
and perhaps my favorite cut on the album,
“If I Only Had A Heart”).
But he also covers some pop things from
the past in “Fool On The Hill”
and “Crazy Love” among others.
Certainly an album highlight is his
composition, “The Only Dream That
Ever Mattered.” It has a contemporary
feel and a lyric that tells of one of
life’s bitter lessons. Winkle
is in excellent company here, singing
with established PDX cats like Joe Milward,
piano; Scott Steed, bass; Paul Mazzio,
trumpet; Renato Caranto, tenor sax;
and Jeff Uusitalo, trombone (not every
guy on every track). There’s something
for just about every taste and preference
on this album. Michael Winkle manages
to straddle the line between pop and
jazz without ever losing his balance.
More info can be found at www.michaelwinkle.com.
Self-produced, 2007, 45:37.
Alexander's Lounge
at the Hilton - Friday, March 31, 2006
The Ron Steen Trio, with Mike Winkle.
Alexander's is a classy place and Ron
Steen is a classy guy who plays his
drums with finesse. Ron leads a rotating
group of pianists, bassists and singers
on the 23rd floor of the Hilton Hotel.
It's a comfortable, elegant room, with
a view of the sunset, the West Hills
and finally, the night sky. On this
night we were presented with the warm
tone of the superb Dennis Caiazza on
bass and the talented, young Greg Goebel
on piano. Dennis has been here nearly
four years, by way of Rochester NY,
and a long stint in Atlanta leading
a successful swing band, while Greg
arrived two years ago after graduating
with a music degree from the University
of Oregon. They treated us to Brubeck's
In Your Own Sweet Way, Bye Bye Blackbird,
Skylark and a beautiful bossa. It was
an evening for lovers, with Mike Winkle's
gorgeous vocals, treating us to I've
Got You Under My Skin, I Love You For
Sentimental Reasons, and Lennon/McCartney's
And I Love Her. My Foolish Heart had
me swooning. Summertime and God Bless
the Child touched the heart, as well.
The Oregon Jazz Society Club Scene
Portland
singer Michael Winkle a stellar effort
in debut CD! This Dance with Michael Winkle,
Michael Winkle, vocals. Portland's Michael
Winkle has released his initial CD and
has wisely chosen great tunes with stellar
arrangements and a wide array of the city's
finest musicians. Winkle's 'not quite
a tenor, not quite a baritone' voice is
somewhere in the Chet Baker-Jim Ferguson
arena and he's most impressive on tunes
like Angel Eyes, Why Did I Choose You,
For All We Know, Waltz For Debby, Almost
Like Being In Love, and more. My 'fave'
was his own composition, I Guess I Knew.
Had it been written in the heyday of Songbook
Americana, it would have been a major
hit.
George Fendel
The Oregon Jazz Scene, January 2005
Michael
Winkle's release, 'This Dance' displays
the vocalist's abilities to perform jazz,
but more importantly Michael puts his
spin on this collection of tunes. Giving
him a great road map to follow are the
arrangements by Joe Millward and boosting
the talent quotient is his choice of the
best players the Portland music scene
has to offer. Michael gives the listener
the ability to shamelessly enjoy James
Taylor's music as jazz. I enjoyed hearing
Michael's beautiful use of his vibrato
and his technical ability as a vocalist.
Happily making this listener think, this
release is as good as anything that is
being received at KMHD by national jazz
artists. Enjoy!
Mary Burlingame
KMHD Radio, Portland, Oregon
Michael,
I was driving down 99E a couple of years
back and heard someone singing "For
All We Know" on KMHD. I called them
the next day, they gave me your name,
and I promptly lost it. Then, a few weeks
back I heard someone singing "Summertime,"
again on KMHD, and I thought, "Man,
can that guy sing." The first name
I thought of was "Donny Hathaway,"
but it sounded too new. The DJ mentioned
your name, but only when I Googled you
did I realize it was the same person I'd
heard two years earlier. Anyway, I caught
your CD release performance at Jimmy Mac's
and all I can say is, you're NOT just
a studio singer. Chet Baker was my avenue
into Jazz, and since then my interests
have been, for the most part, confined
to piano trios--Keith Jarrett's Standards
trio in particular. As for singers, Etta
James, Tony Bennet, and Chet Baker really
get to me, but that's been about it. But
I've honestly never heard a current singer
with your combination of control and soul,
who also doesn't try simply to appeal
to nostalgia. Fantastic!
KMHD
listener
Best
I've heard in this genre. Love the two
originals and the older classics. Gave
it to my Dad for his birthday, and he
loves it. Michael's voice fits this type
of music.
Donna Richards
Owner Portland Night & Day Entertainment |
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