Mark Winkler

Biography

Mark Winkler is a platinum award winning singer/lyricist who has had over 200 of his songs recorded and/or sung by such artists as Dianne Reeves, Randy Crawford, Liza Minnelli, Bob Dorough, Jackie Ryan, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Britain’s Claire Martin.   In the Fall of 2013 Summit Records released his 12th CD “West Coast Cool” with Manhattan’s Cheryl Bentyne which celebrates the great music of the 50s on the West Coast. It immediately went to #14 on the Jazzweek Chart and is garnering great reviews- Earlier this year, his 11th Cd “The Laura Nyro Project” featuring the Lyrics of 60s/70s Icon Laura Nyro was released,  where it too received stellar reviews and reached the top 25 on the Jazz Week Charts. This follows up his 2011 CD of mostly original Winkler lyrics, “Sweet Spot” which was one of the top Top 5 Vocal Jazz CDs in Jazz Times magazine. He has also been featured in two national magazines- Jazz Times and Cabaret Scenes (where he was the cover boy) and did an interview and concert on Voice of America that was broadcast to over 60 countries.   As a lyricist he has written lyrics for songs by Wayne Shorter, Duke Pearson, Joe Sample, David Benoit and Dexter Gordon.   He has performed in clubs in Los Angeles, in New York- at the Blue Note and the Laurie Beechman, Birdland and the Iridium, and has sung in London, Tokyo and Australia. As part of West Coast Cool with Cheryl Bentyne he has performed at the Syracuse Jazz Festival and in Tuscon, Arizona, Toronto, Canada and Madison Wisconsin among many other cities.   He also wrote songs for the 2nd longest running musical in Off Broadway History ‘Naked Boys Singing!” and has two other shows “Bark!” and “Too Old for the Chorus” touring the country.   As an educator he teaches lyric writing “Crafting Great Lyrics: A Songwriters Workshop” at UCLA extension and he writes columns for Music Connection magazine.