Making The Most Of It and Supporting Musicians

Like most of us I have been spending a great deal of time sequestered in my home.   I miss being able to go to bars, clubs, and concert halls to experience live music, but I have been totally amazed at the number and quality of online live events.  Experiencing these performances via Facebook or Youtube with picture and sound mirrored from my Ipad to a large screen television connected to my Sonos sound system has been a revelation.  I also discovered the Facebook Watch app on Apple TV, which streams most of these events (and also archives a few of  them) to be an easy way to access. Wonderful performances of Brazilian music by Philadelphia based duo Minas and Miami based Rose Max and Ramatis Moraes have been regular events for my wife and I.  Janis Siegel and Lauren Kinhan’s “Vocal Gumbo” is filled with good music and humor.   I have also had the chance to catch John Pizzarelli, Dena DeRose, and a few others during this time. Virtually every muscian makes it easy to support them financially during this difficult time via Venmo or Paypal. ...

“In every cloud there is a silver lining”

As the days “sequestered at home” roll by, it has been an unexpected pleasure to have the time to search for, discover and listen to music that I have never heard before.   As you would expect much of this music is jazz vocal music, but my long term affinity for harmony filled rock music, British folk-rock, Brazilian music,  and singer/songwriters has filled my days with many hours of pleasurable listening.  But that’s only half of the “silver lining”.    What has been unexpected is the time to go back and listen to so many albums in my collection that I have not heard for many years. Hope to feature some of these recent “re-discoveries” on future Vocal Sound of Jazz programs.  Stay tuned and stay well!...

“In every cloud there is a silver lining”

As the days “sequestered at home” roll by, it has been an unexpected pleasure to have the time to search for, discover and listen to music that I have never heard before.   As you would expect much of this music is jazz vocal music, but my long term affinity for harmony filled rock music, British folk-rock, Brazilian music,  and singer/songwriters has filled my days with many hours of pleasurable listening.  But that’s only half of the “silver lining”.    What has been unexpected is the time to go back and listen to so many albums in my collection that I have not heard for many years. Hope to feature some of these recent “re-discoveries” on future Vocal Sound of Jazz programs.  Stay tuned and stay well!...

The “Vocal Sound of Jazz” 40 Years

The “Vocal Sound of Jazz” returns on Saturday January 4, 2020 with a program celebrating the beginning of our 41st year.  We will be reprising many of the songs and artists that were featured on our debut broadcast in 1980 and a will also be looking ahead as we spotlight recent releases by Tony Desare, Cathy Segal-Garcia, and Vince...

Our first program of 2019, which was broadcast on January 5th marked the beginng of year 40 for the “Vocal Sound Of Jazz”.  In 1980 when I began broacasting, I made a weekly pilgrimage to the WHRO/WHRV studios, recorded on reel to reel tape and used razor blades and special tape to do some occassional editing.  Over these 39 plus years the technology evolved from reel to reel, to digital audio tape (DAT), to Mini-Disc (MD), and finally to me recording as pictured here from my home office/studio directly to my MacBook Pro. The one thing that has remained constant over these 39 plus years is my love for this music and deep respect for those involved in creating it.  While jazz vocal music is rich with historic  recordings and performers, it’s the current generation of jazz vocal talents that continue to excite and motivate...

West Coast Cool

Award winning, critically acclaimed jazz vocalist/lyricist, Mark Winkler meets multi-Grammy winning vocalist, Cheryl Bentyne, (member of The Manhattan Transfer) to form a dynamic duo intent on proving how cool the ‘West Coast Cool Jazz’ scene of the ‘50s still is. Together and separately they perform songs by Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Julie London and Bobby Troup (to name a few). Enjoy! ‘’CHERYL BENTYNE & MARK WINKLER/West Coast Cool:  Anybody still remember and enjoy Jackie & Roy?  Sure, they got started in Chicago and Milwaukee, but once they got a taste of LA and Vegas, the cold weather was in the rear view mirror.  Cheryl & Mark pick it up right where Jackie & Roy left off.  If you Googled the credits of the two marquee cats, and then Googled the credits of all the killer players weaving in and out of this set, you’d crash your hard drive.  With about a million years worth of combined, well honed chops on board, this set can blow away the hippest thing you could find in the Bethlehem catalog, and it covers a lot of the same songs just to keep things a fair competition.  This is an utterly fantastic jazz vocal date that raises the bar so high, critics will be comparing dates 50 years from now to this one.  Killer stuff.’’ -MIDWEST RECORD ‘’…superb medleys…Bentyne’s sweet vocals marvel…smooth and vibrant vocals of Winkler and Bentyne, who together take the oft-used phrase ‘dynamic duo’ to a much higher level.’’ ...