New Winkler Album Deserves Better Production

courtesy of Play MPE

Last month jazz vocalist and songwriter Mark Winkler released his latest album Late Bloomin’ Jazzman. Given the number of jazz releases that have disappointed me, particularly since the onset of the COVID pandemic, a basic nuts-and-bolts account of straight-ahead jazz vocals should have been a welcome arrival. However, there are production values that arise once the recording sessions have finished; and little attention seems to have been given to them.

For the most part these failings have been remedied through the rather extensive notes provided on the Amazon.com Web page for the CD. The text accounts for the instrumentalists that provide backup for Winkler’s vocals. However, where multiple players are involved for piano and bass, there is no account of which tracks involve which performers. There is also no basic track listening, but that information can be found on the digital download Web page.

Eight of the twelve tracks are Winkler originals. These are unabashedly personal. Pessimism tends to rule over optimism; but, if the prevailing mood is a dark one, Winkler deftly avoids descending into the mere maudlin.

Winkler credits Barbara Brighton as his producer. Apparently, she has little interest in satisfying the needs of those of us interested in the nuts and bolts behind individual jazz tracks. On the other hand, it is probably the case that there are so few of us that we no longer merit such attention.