Mark Winkler, a singer/lyricist with a platinum record, has had more than 150 of his songs recorded by and/or sung in performances by artists such as Dianne Reeves and Randy Crawford, Liza Minnelli and Bob Dorough. Dexter Gordon and Joshua Redman, among others, have credited him with the lyrics. He co-wrote “Land of the Loving” with David Benoit and it is featured in all of the 2008/2009 Philippine National Tourism Board TV commercials. Mark has released ten CDs in the US. Sweet Spot is Mark’s 11th CD. It was released in August 2011. It is the sequel to Till I Get It Right, which was selected by Jazz Times Magazine as one of the Top 10 Vocal CDs that year. Sweet Spot again shows Winkler’s ability as a consummate lyricist, singer and songwriter. He performs 4 songs on the CD including “On Broadway” (but not for me) and Bobby Troup’s “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring” (Andre Previn). The title track is a Winkler original. It is a duet between him, Vocalist Supreme Barbara Morrison and a guitar solo from Grant Geissman. He is well-known for his company and this time he joins jazz legends like Grant Geissman (Billy Childs), Bob Sheppard, Greg Hutchinson, Anthony Wilson, and Bob Sheppard. Mark is co-writer of the hit Musical Review, now available on DVD. “Naked Boys Singing!” has been running Off Broadway for 11 years. He is the co-writer and creator of Too Old for the Chorus, which has had successful performances in Los Angeles and San Diego. He won the Backstage West and L.A. Weekly awards for best score for “Naked Boys Singing!”. He also wrote songs for musical revues “Hangin’ Out” and “Bark!” In 2007, his jazz noir musical “Play it Cool”, premiered in Los Angeles and received the Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice award. It was selected to participate in the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival, September 2008. The show sold out every performance and received excellent reviews. GLAAD also nominated it for Best Musical-Off Broadway. “Play It Cool” was limited to an Off Broadway run in September 2011 at the Acorn Theatre, Theatre Row, New York City. Mark is an educator who has taught seminars on lyric writing at The Songwriters Guild, the Learning Annex and now teaches “Crafting Great Lyrics” at UCLA Extension. He also teaches workshops on Jazz CD Productions and Marketing. from http://markwinklermusic.com
