At age 60, United Kingdom jazz vocalist Mitch Winehouse is turning a life-long ambition into reality, showcasing his in-depth knowledge and sheer passion for jazz and swing music with a 11-track debut called “Rush of Love,” featuring a host of rarely uncovered classics as well as four brand-new tracks.
“We love singing in our family” Winehouse said in a recent news release, “I was always singing at home. But this is a dream come true and musically, it’s a great album.” Despite his own undeniable music talent, Mitch is also realistic about the assumptions that will be made about his newfound career choice: “If Amy wasn’t my daughter I wouldn’t be given this opportunity. I’m not stupid, I know that. But if I couldn’t sing I wouldn’t have been given the opportunity either.”
Teaming up with old family friend Tony Hiller, writer of ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ and hundreds of other jazz and pop standards, was another logical step for Mitch who has, quite obviously, had the time of his life researching and compiling his music debut. “I had such a good time making this album,” Winehouse said. “We tried 40 songs we loved and worked through them with a pianist. If it didn’t work for us, we moved on, but just reliving them was enough.”
The album features the 1931 Bing Crosby classic ‘I Apologize’, and ‘Day by Day’, also later recorded by Crosby in 1946 as well as by Doris Day in the same year. ‘You Go To My Head’ has been re-worked by such fans ranging from Billie Holiday to Rod Stewart. Finally, the popular ‘April In Paris,’ taken from the 1932 Broadway musical ‘Walk A Little Faster’ and later performed by the likes of Louis Armstrong, is given the Mitch makeover.
