"EASTERN STANDARD TIME" by vocalists Mark Winkler and Cheryl Bentyne

MARK WINKLER AND CHERYL BENTYNE TEAM UP AGAIN

IN HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO “WEST COAST COOL”

“EASTERN STANDARD TIME” on CAFÉ PACIFIC RECORDS

Vocalists MARK WINKLER and CHERYL BENTYNE go together like champagne and caviar. Bentyne is a long-time mainstay of the iconic group The Manhattan Transfer. She is also a solo performer with over a dozen CDs under her own name. Winkler is a 2018 Downbeat Rising Male Vocalist and a popular lyricist. He has recorded 16 CDs, and his songs have been covered over 250 times by such artists as Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jane Monheit and Bob Dorough. Winkler and Bentyne have teamed up to record EASTERN STANDARD TIME, a sophisticated project of songs culled from known standards and several less familiar pages of the Great American Songbook, as well as a couple of originals by Winkler.

This is their second CD together. The first, WEST COAST COOL, was released in 2013 and received critical acclaim and went to #16 on the Jazzweek chart. For that project, Winkler and Bentyne chose tunes from the 1950s associated with the West Coast Cool sound. They also created a live show based on the CD, which they’ve performed in various venues across the country. For EASTERN STANDARD TIME they reprise the concept, but this time present songs of East Coast lineage.

Bentyne and Winkler have been working together since 2010. “Working with Cheryl has been one of the nicest things that has happened to me in my career,” says Winkler. “We really enjoy each other’s company and have become good friends. I think you can hear that when we sing together.” This was a truly collaborative effort with each bringing songs to the project.

Winkler is also a seasoned producer. For this outing, he co-produced with Talley Sherwood, the owner of Tritone Studios in Glendale, CA, where they recorded the CD. Winkler has produced a number of CDs for other artists at Tritone and came to trust Sherwood’s excellent taste and deep musical knowledge.

Winkler says, “The best part of being a singer in Los Angeles is having access to an abundance of great musicians.” One of the great musicians that Winkler works with is RICH EAMES, who plays piano and arranged nine of the 11 tunes on this disc. Eames is Winkler’s first-call pianist for his live performances. They often write together, and Eames also played and arranged for WEST COAST COOL.

Also joining Winkler and Bentyne are players who are at the top of their game. Emmy-nominated guitarist GRANT GEISSMAN (Three and a Half Men) is an old friend of Winkler’s and played on his first six CDs.

Besides touring with artists likes Barbra Streisand, Jack Sheldon and Chuck Mangione, drummer DAVE TULL is also a well-respected songwriter and singer. He also works regularly with Bentyne on her solo outings. Multiinstrumentalist BOB SHEPPARD has played on countless sessions with an astounding number of A-list jazz giants, including Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, and Michael and Randy Brecker, among many others. GABE DAVIS is a younger bass player who has quickly become one of the first-call musicians on the Los Angeles jazz scene. Guitarist PAT KELLEY has played on several of Winkler’s CDs and currently performs with David Benoit.

Percussionist KEVIN WINARD has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Frank Sinatra Jr., and Rosemary Clooney. He’s been touring the world with vocalist Steve Tyrell since 2005.

Winkler and Bentyne chose songs that you would hear if you habituated jazz clubs in New York City back in the late 50s and early 60s. Although the CD comprises mainly duets, they each perform two solo pieces as well.

Winkler gets a kick out of laundry list songs and sings the humorous “Rhode Island is Famous for You,” a Dietz & Schwartz song that Blossom Dearie often sang on club dates. He also takes a solo turn on “I Could Get Used to This (Bumpin’),” originally a Wes Montgomery instrumental for which Winkler wrote the lyrics.

Bentyne’s solos include “The Gentleman is a Dope” from “Allegro,” a fairly obscure play by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Bentyne is a wonderful actor and portrays the inner thoughts of the character through this musical soliloquy. She also performs a gently emotive version of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” as a duet with Kelley.

Winkler and Bentyne open the CD with Bob Dorough’s “Devil May Care.” The song has been recorded many times, but Eames updates the tune with a lively Afro-Cuban arrangement. Winkler penned the lyrics to “Like Jazz.” The arrangement is by pianist JAMIESON TROTTER, who was also the primary arranger for Winkler’s previous CD, THE COMPANY I KEEP. “The Best is Yet to Come” by Cy Coleman was made popular by Frank Sinatra and was the last song Old Blue Eyes sang in public. The words "The Best is Yet to Come" are actually etched on Sinatra's tombstone.

“Walk on the Wild Side” is an outlier on this CD. It features a new arrangement by ELI BRUEGGEMAN, who is currently the musical director for Saturday Night Live. “While most of these songs should be listened to with a scotch and soda in one hand,” says Winkler, ‘Walk on the Wild Side,’ a scandalous Lou Reed song from the 70s, should perhaps be listened to under different influences. But Cheryl and I just had to include it on the CD.”

“You Smell So Good” was written by Harry Stone & Tommy Wolf and first recorded by Jackie & Roy, who were the epitome of New York sophistication. “Things are Swingin’” was written and recorded by Peggy Lee in 1959.

Geissman’s guitar work on the song is reminiscent of a Les Paul/Mary Ford tune. Winkler and Bentyne close the CD with a medley of “The Ballad of the Sad Young Men” and “The Lies of Handsome Men.” The medley is enriched with lovely cello work by STEFANIE FIFE.

EASTERN STANDARD TIME is a cool and cultivated project by two stellar vocalists who can transform whatever they sing into a statement of great emotional depth. Individually, Winkler and Bentyne are highly compelling performers. Together, they are musical powerhouses.

featuring

MARK WINKLER  &  CHERYL BENTYNE vocals

RICH EAMES  piano

BOB SHEPPARD sax

GRANT GEISSMAN guitar

PAT KELLEY guitar (7)

GABE DAVIS bass

DAVE TULL drums

KEVIN WINARD percussion

STEPHANIE FIFE cello

tracks

1. DEVIL MAY CARE (4:18)

2. RHODE ISLAND IS FAMOUS FOR YOU  (3:43)

3. LIKE JAZZ  (3:38)

4. THE GENTLEMAN IS A DOPE  (4:29)

5. I COULD GET USED TO THIS (BUMPIN’)  (3:55)

6. THE BEST IS YET TO COME  (4:23)

7. SPRING CAN REALLY HANG YOU  UP THE MOST  (6:11)

8. WALK ON THE WILD SIDE  (4:15)

9. YOU SMELL SO GOOD  (4:03)

10. THINGS ARE SWINGIN’  (3:29)

11. BALLAD OF THE SAD YOUNG MEN/LIES OF HANDSOME MEN  (6:09)

www.markwinklermusic.com

www.cherylbentyne.net

Dave Tull (feat. Randy Porter, Randy Waldman, Larry Koonse, Kevin Axt, Wayne Bergeron, George Stone, Cheryl Bentyne, Inga Swearingen, Les Benedict, Doug Webb & Andy Martin) - Texting and Driving (ToyCar Records 2018)

DAVE TULL is a witty observer of the trials and tribulations of everyday life… especially the life of a professional musician. Tull is a veteran drummer who, among his many credits, performed in Chuck Mangione’s band for 10 years and accompanied Barbra Streisand on three of her most recent tours.

Although Tull has been playing for over 30 years and has appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman, he released his first CD as a leader, I JUST WANT TO GET PAID, only in 2009. That was a full-length vocal project that showcased Tull’s smooth vocal stylings and clever compositions. Now, his newest CD, TEXTING AND DRIVING, will cement his reputation as a top-notch lyricist and humorist in the vein of Dave Frishberg and a singer with a sly, tongue-in-cheek sensibility and improvisatory style that sounds like he might be the unacknowledged son of Jack Sheldon and EddieJefferson.

Because Tull started his musical life as a drummer, his development as a singer started with scatting along with his drums, and he learned to improvise vocally before learning any actual melodies. It’s an approach that shaped his vocal style and sets him apart from other singers.

For anyone who’s familiar with Tull’s career, his singing chops comes as no surprise. He began singing on gigs in the 1990s when he worked in PageCavanaugh’s trio. Cavanaugh, the veteran pianist and singer who became one of Southern California's most enduring lounge jazz artists, like dTull’s singing so much, he often wrote vocal parts for him and gave him solo time at the microphone. After leaving Cavanaugh, Tull became both the drummer and lead vocalist in Chuck Mangione’s band. His vocal on Mangione’s “The Children of Sanchez” and his bebop scat vocal on “Dizzymiles” was featured at hundreds of concerts, including The Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl and The Blue Note in New York City. Tull has also played on eight of Cheryl Bentyne’s solo projects, and he accompanied her on six tours to Japan.Bentyne had Tull sing on two tracks of her CD “Moonlight Serenade,” including the song “Tull Tales.”

On TEXTING AND DRIVING, Tull displays his wide command of subject matter and musical styles. Tull says, “I don’t sit down to write a funny tune.If a song turns out to be humorous, it’s because it’s just a big part of who I am. I love to laugh. Besides, there’s so much more to write about than romantic love. I savor the absurdities of life.”

Songs like “The Texting Song,” a big band swing number in which he sings about the dangers of texting and driving, or “Watch Your Kid,” a waltz in which he laments the lack of parental supervision when kids run amok in public,are laugh-out-loud funny. As a busy,tourin gmusician, Tull is someone who travels a lot and meets more people than he could possibly remember. “Please Tell Me Your Name” is a funny send-up of running into a fellow musician at the airport, but he just can’t remember the guy’s name, an embarrassing position most people have faced. On “Clapping on One and Three” he wonders if he can continue a relationship with a beautiful woman after discovering that she doesn’t know anything about jazz.

Although he excels at wry observations, he also has a more serious, ruminative side. “I Will Sing to You” is a gentle lullaby he wrote for his children, Henry and Frannie, while “You Remind Me,” a samba, is a love song for his wife, Dawn. “The Stoplight at the End of the Street” is perhaps Tull’s most philosophical piece as he imagines the point of view of a stoplight close to his home that observes the daily flow of humanity.

Tull is joined by a roster of A-list musicians, most whom are old friends and musical compatriots that he’s toured with in various bands over the years.The band includes guitarist LARRY KOONSE, whom he’s been friends with since high school, and trumpeter GEORGE STONE,whom he’s known since college. RANDY PORTER is a Portland-based pianist whom Tull to flew in to L.A. to anchor the trio.Tull and Porter worked together on several tours with The Rebecca Kilgore–DaveTull Quartet. Tull worked with trumpeter WAYNE BERGERON i nMaynardFerguson’s band in 1987 and with trombonist LES BENEDICT in Steve Huffsteter’s band. Tull and pianist RANDY WALDMAN both appeared on Michael Buble’s first two albums and worked together on Barbara Streisand’s tours. Tull and bassist KEVIN AXT toured for ten years with Chuck Mangione, and sax player DOUG WEBB met Dave on the Bill Holman BigBand.

He’s also joined by two outstanding vocalists on a couple of songs. INGA SWEARINGEN, a popular singer-songwirter from California’s Central Coast, sings a duet with Tullon “The Moment,” a lush,romantic ballad with a string arrangement by Stone. Vocalist CHERYL BENTYNE joins him on “The Date,” a flirty song wherein Tull and Bentyne have very different impressions about the same encounter, revealing their thoughts as internal monologues as they sing over one another.

For those who know Tull only as a superb session drummer, TEXTING AND DRIVING is an engaging project that showcases the range of his other talents as a singer, composer, and arranger. Although he’s frequently witty and sometimes sardonic,there’s also a sweetness to his writing and singing that gives this CD an endearing and affable quality that is inviting and enchanting.