MARK WINKLER, The Mona Lisa Sessions

The ever-fabulous Mark Winkler, a long treasured swinger, singer and songwriter I once dubbed the “poet laureate of the L.A. Jazz Scene” sang it all about the magic of recording and performing at any age on his wonderful, insightful gem “The Joy of Singing” on his 2024 album The Rules Don’t Apply – which was easily the umpteenth collection that made my year end Top Ten list in Jazziz Magazine. In my glowing review, I made mention of a unique reality in Winkler’s luminous, multi-decade career and ever-blooming artistry.

I wrote that his “ongoing brilliance for co-writing his own material has sometimes overshadowed his skills as an interpreter of pop standards.” On The Rules Don’t Apply, he surpassed the Great American Songbook for rock-era classics by Donald Fagen, The Beatles, Paul Simon and Randy Newman via Three Dog Night.

On The Mona Lisa Sessions, a rare interim EP which will keep his loyal fans in a state of aural bliss as he gears up to start recording his next full length in spring 2025, he explores a mini treasure trove of wonderful Songbook classics and a later Burt Bacharach gem that, as popular as they once were and maybe still are, seem like they were just hanging around waiting for a re-imagining/contemporary redefinition by Winkler’s timeless vocals and phrasing and the lovely, sparse and intimate arrangements by pianist Greg Gordon Smith.    

Beginning with the project’s majestic namesake, we’ve all heard Nat King Cole’s classic version of “Mona Lisa,” but Winkler’s graceful, yearning vocal and Smith’s gently meditative piano arrangement may lead many to rediscover the splendor of the lyrics – and wonder anew, as Winkler does, if Ray Evans’ inviting, mysterious lyrics were about someone the narrator loved, the Mona Lisa painting, or perhaps himself? It’s something to ponder as we listen to Winkler’s rendition over and over.

With “Mona Lisa” as what Winkler calls their “north star,” he and Smith fashioned equally soul-summoning renditions of four other timeless tunes, starting with a tender, easy/dreamy swinging spin on “More Than You Know” (a favorite of Winkler’s late husband Richard Del Belso) and an , elegant, soft-spoken romantic twirl through the Gershwins’ “Embraceable You.”

Though Smith is a pianist, he had the brilliant idea to spontaneously create a snappy, hypnotic bass and percussion-driven piano free arrangement of “Just In Time” when he heard Gabe Davis (bass) and Chris Wabich (drums) casually creating an exotic rhythm while experimenting with the tune. Another production idea bordering on the sensational is turning a sweet soulful take on Bacharach’s always magical “Alfie” into a lovely vocal harmony driven duet by Winkler and Smith’s friend Cliff Beach.

With complementary vocal styles, the two combine to create a transcendent emotional chemistry on a tune we thought we had perhaps heard enough versions of but now realize we hadn’t!

And what would a Winkler collection of standards be without a Winkler original that has the potential to one day be a classic all its own? It’s testament to the singer’s (literally!) colorful lyrics and Smith’s eloquent melody on “A New Color” that this charmer fits snugly amidst the legends.  

Here’s to many more interim standards sessions in between Winkler’s normal prolific output in the years to come!