DOLORES SCOZZESI and MARK WINKLER

Sun., Dec. 15.  Doors open for dinner at 6p.  Show is at 8p.  DOLORES SCOZZESI and MARK WINKLER.

Making her start “years ago, when Budd Friedman’s Improv sprinkled singers between its comedy acts,” Ms. Scozzesi studied with The Groundlings and with J.D. Lewis and Aaron Speiser.  As “an actress who sings,” she was cast in Paul Horner’s award-winning musical revue, Suddenly This Summer, for which critics described her as “an arresting presence, smokily dramatic…a blend of intelligence and passion.”    Piers Ford, in reviewing her CD, Jazz is a Special Taste, enthused, “It’s the voice that grabs you to begin with.  A rich contralto with edge, snapping from molten serenity to a predatory growl in a single phrase, and a timbre that makes you want to place your hands on the speakers just so you can capture something of its individuality.  She switches easily between the ominous and the edgy.” In addition to A Special Taste, her second CD, Here Comes the Sun, has also received widespread airplay.  Her photo has graced the cover of The Los Angeles Jazz Scene, she received the Jazz Living Legend Award in 2017, and she received the Jexxa Award in 2021 for her contributions to Jazz. She is very proud of the two singles she released last year:  “Flor de Lis,” (“Upside Down,”); and Raye/dePaul’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is.”

Mark Winkler, platinum-award-winning singer/lyricist and Cabaret Scenes cover boy 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, and he has written lyrics for such jazz luminaries as Wayne Shorter, Duke Pearson, Joe Sample, David Benoit, and Dexter Gordon.  His CD, Jazz and Other Four Letter Words, received a Four Star review in Downbeat, and received Five Stars in All About Jazz, which calls it “One of the Finest CDs of the Year.”  Four of his lyrics were featured on the David Benoit/Jane Monheit CD, 2 In Love, which received a Four Star rating from All Music Guide.    “—If Mark Murphy is the reigning king of vocal hipsterism, then Mark Winkler ranks directly behind Kurt Elling among heirs apparent.”—Chris Loudon—Jazz Times.  More can be learned at www.markwinklermusic.com