Search - Mark Winkler :: Sings Bobby Troup

Winkler's take on Troup: West Coast hip all the way...

R. H. Roth Jr. | East Lansing, Michigan USA | 05/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everyone from Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and Diana Krall to the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt, and Asleep at the Wheel have recorded songs by the inimitable songwriter (singer, actor, bon vivant, raconteur...) Bobby Troup, 1918-1999. Amazingly, no one had recorded an entire album from the vast, remarkable Troup songbook. Until now. Having worked for four years (so far) on a Bobby Troup biography, I must confess to being a bit nervous hearing that Mark Winkler was about to release a recording filled with Bobby Troup songs. I saw John Pizzarelli and Mark Murphy as the leading candidates to perform an homage to Troupie. I knew little of Winkler and that being limited to sampling one of his 80's albums when he was into a far different style. Fresh from Amazon upon its release, "Mark Winkler Sings Bobby Troup" landed in my CD changer and, for the first two songs, I held my breath. By the time Winkler finished a witty, hip "Hungry Man" and a thoughtful, vo-cool "You're Looking At Me", I exhaled, smiling broadly through the next 11 cuts. Great band. Great sound. Totally "50's West Coast" singer. 5 stars to the tribute album that Bobby Troup has deserved for decades. Listen to "Lemon Twist" and you picture Winkler holding a cold glass in one hand and a mic in the other. Hear "Walkin' Shoes" and you see the vocalist settling in at 1:00a.m. with a club full of casual Californians. On jazz standards "Baby, Baby All The Time" and "The Meaning of the Blues," he delivers the sophisticated sadness that is the hallmark of Troup's blues-based ballads.

Throughout "Sings Bobby Troup," the listener is treated to first-rate musicianship. Anthony Wilson's fine guitar work (equaling his performance on "Diana Krall in Paris") and swinging arrangements set the standard. The combo also includes Jon Mayer on piano, Kevin Axt on bass, Roy McCurdy and Mark Ferber alternating on drums, and Joe Bragg on organ. Jon Mayer arranges several of these gems.

The beautiful "Learn To Love" is recorded here for perhaps the first time. Winkler was able to speak with co-writer Matt Dennis a month before Mr. Dennis' death and secure a copy of the lead sheet. The message and musical setting will touch you deeply, unless of course your heart is two sizes too small. The last song is an original that Mark Winkler penned with Jon Mayer called "Two Guys From The Coast." The literary conceit is an envisioning of Mark and Bobby beings pals with similar L.A./Hollywood jazz hipness and sensibilities. Fair enough--it works.

The liner notes give a helpful overview, despite a couple of unfortunate errors. Bobby did not arrive "in Los Angeles from the east coast in the early 1950's." Bobby and first wife Cynthia hit Hollywood & Vine in 1946, a very important fact given the post-war ethos in which they wrote "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" on their westward journey. (Troup was married to second wife Julie London for 40 years, he being her musical producer and wildly successful promoter.) It would have also been more accurate to state that Troup compositions have been recorded hundreds of times, not dozens as the notes say.

All & all, Mark Winkler has done the jazz world a big favor with "Sings Bobby Troup." Fans of Nat King Cole, June Christy, Julie London, Jack Sheldon, the Four Freshmen, the Lighthouse All-Stars, Stan Kenton, Mel Torme, Herb Ellis, and Shelly Manne will all enjoy meeting Winkler here among the hipster canon of Bobby Troup. Volume II?"

Great Songs, Great Delivery

R. H. Roth Jr. | 05/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First introduced to Mark Winkler and Bobby Troup while listening to snippets from this CD on a Delta flight (in-flight music). Couldn't get it out of my mind. This CD has most of those songs and a few others. Great to have one album of Troup, and performed well. These are midcentury classics from the "great American songbook" that are often forgotten, but hipper than the 1920s-1930s standards (Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, the Gershwins) and just as clever. The music is contemporary with Johnny Mercer, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Winkler's CD is highly recommended."