For those unaware, Late Bloomin’ Jazzman, the newest album by vocalist and songwriter Mark Winkler, is an homage to growing older and all the blessings and drawbacks that come with it.

The album is Winkler’s 20th CD as a leader and each of his previous projects have received stellar reviews and consistently been top the jazz charts. Indeed, Rex Reed has said, “Mark Winkler is a musical marvel and a true original! At last, a writer who sings and a singer who swings!”

On Late Bloomin’ Jazzman, Winkler brought into the studio some of the top players in Southern California, including DAVID BENOIT, JAMIESON TROTTER, RICH EAMES, and JON MAYER on piano, JOHN CLAYTON and GABE DAVIS on bass, CHRISTIAN EUMAN on drums, GRANT GEISSMAN on guitar, BOB SHEPPARD on sax, BRIAN SWARTZ on trumpet, NOLAN SHAHEED on trumpet, and KEVIN WINARD on percussion.

1. It Ain’t Necessarily So
2. Don’t Be Blue
3. When All The Light in The Sign Worked
4. Late Bloomin’ Jazzman
5. In Another Way
6. Boss Nova Days
7. Old Devil Moon
8. I Always Had A Thing For You
9. Before You Leave
10. Old Enough
11. Marlena’s Memories
12. If Gershwin Had Lived

This majestically created, wholeheartedly pleasurable listening experience opens on the heartfelt and melodious It Ain’t Necessarily So and a rather buoyantly flirtatious Don’t Be Blue and then comes the smokey, Noir-infused tale spun within When All The Light in The Sign Worked, the finger-snapping hipsway of the titular Late Bloomin’ Jazzman (composed and arranged by Eli Brueggemann), the lushly orchestrated balladry of In Another Way, and the gently Latin-tinged Boss Nova Days.

Up next is the infectious foot-tapper Old Devil Moon and the enchanting I Always Had A Thing For You and they are in turn followed seamlessly by the late night-imbued, sweetly dulcet Before You Leave (composed by pianist Jon Mayer), the mid-tempo swing of Old Enough, the album rounding out on the storytelling yearn about a dear friend of his who has Alzheimer’s within Marlena’s Memories, coming to a close on the impassioned beauty within the achingly tender If Gershwin Had Lived.

This is also the eighth album he has worked on with BARBARA BRIGHTON as producer. Winkler covers a lot of personal topics on Late Bloomin’ Jazzman. He writes about his love of George Gershwin, film noir, and the songs of Rio. He also writes about losing his husband, finding love again, and about a close friend ravished by Alzheimer’s disease.

With an abundance of fans on the West and East coasts, it is easy for Winkler to fill a house wherever he performs. Winkler is a prolific lyricist whose songs have been recorded or performed by a Who’s Who of well-known singers, including Dianne Reeves, DeeDee Bridgewater, Steve Tyrell, Claire Martin, Jackie Ryan, Randy Crawford, Cheryl Bentyne, Kenny Rankin, Jane Monheit, and Ben Vereen, among others.

Furthermore, the great Liza Minelli titled her 1977 CD Tropical Nights after one of Winkler’s songs. The roster of Winkler’s collaborators is equally impressive and includes David Benoit, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Dexter Gordon, Dianne Reeves, Wes Montgomery, and Lorraine Feather.

In the last few years Winkler has often included a couple of his originals on his previous albums, he has mostly focused on standards, and the East Coast Jazz Scene in the 50s & 60s,and especially the songs of Bobby Troup.

When All The Light in The Sign Worked - Mark Winkler [Official Music Video]

Official Website