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| The Prolific Jazz Guitarist Doug Macdonald Gives Five Standards And Three Originals A Strong Latin Feel On Santa Monica Session The prolific jazz guitarist Doug MacDonald gives five standards and three of his originals a strong Latin feel on Santa Monica Session. Featured in a quartet with keyboardist Bill Cantos, MacDonald's solos and the rhythms make this a particularly accessible set of inventive jazz. Doug MacDonald - Guitar Bill Cantos - Piano, Organ, Fender Rhodes Hussain Jiffry - Bass Kevin Winard - Drums, Percussion Artist: DOUG MACDONALD Title: SANTA MONICA SESSION Artist Website: https://www.dougmacdonald.net Release Date: January 1, 2025 Label: Dmac Music Catalog Number: DM27 UPC Code: 198999352924 MUSICIANS: Doug MacDonald - Guitar, Bill Cantos - Piano, Organ, Fender Rhodes, Hussain Jiffry - Bass, Kevin Winard - Drums, Percussion TRACK LISTING 1. Lady Bird (Tadd Dameron) 2. Minor Makeup (Doug MacDonald) 3. Prisoner of Love (Leo Robin, Clarence Kill, Russ Columbo, Edison H. Morris & Company) 4. Tele Time (Doug Macdonald) 5. Walkin' (Richard Carpenter, Warner Brothers) 6. Pent-Up House (Sonny Rollins) 7. dmac (Doug MacDonald) 8. Perdido (Juan Tizol, Tempo Music Inc.) All arrangements by Doug MacDonald Recorded September 3, 2024 at Jiffry Music Studios, Los Angeles, CA Hussain Jiffry – Engineering, Mixing and Mastering Rachel Berry – Copy Editor Spencer Cole Porter – Art & Design Doug MacDonald has recorded and released at least ten rewarding albums during the past seven years. But rather than repeat himself or rest on his laurels, the straight ahead jazz guitarist varies the instrumentation and personnel on each project while keeping the musical quality consistently high, giving every recording its own personality and purpose. For Santa Monica Session, MacDonald's arrangements transform five veteran standards and three of his originals into Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz. He is joined on the quartet set by Bill Cantos on piano, Fender Rhodes and organ, bassist Hussain Jiffry, and drummer-percussionist Kevin Winard. In addition to being masterful musicians, each of the guitarist's sidemen are versatile and quite adept at playing creative Latin rhythms. Santa Monica Session begins with the Tadd Dameron bop classic "Lady Bird, " a piece that has rarely been played in this fashion. MacDonald's "Minor Makeup" has a happy melody that could serve as the theme song for a movie or television show. The latter is highlighted by MacDonald's extensive solo. The 1930s ballad "Prisoner of Love" (a hit for crooner Russ Columbo) is turned into a relaxed bolero that features the guitarist throughout. MacDonald's "Tele Time, " a tribute to his new Telecater guitar, is a bossa nova with challenging chord changes that is made accessible due to the rhythms and Cantos' colorful electric piano playing. "Walkin', " which was made famous by Miles Davis in the 1950s, is turned into a boogaloo with funky Latin rhythms while the Latinization of Sonny Rollins' "Pent-Up House" (along with Cantos' organ) makes the standard sound fresh and new. Santa Monica Session concludes in joyful fashion with MacDonald's straight ahead blues "Dmac" and an infectious version of Juan Tizol's "Perdido." Doug MacDonald, who was born in Philadelphia and raised in Hawaii, gained early experience playing jazz in a variety of settings in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, also spending a year and a half working in New York. A significant part of the Southern California jazz scene since the 1970s, he worked with such greats as Buddy Rich, Ray Charles, Bill Holman, Jack Sheldon and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra plus a countless number of notable local musicians. MacDonald has led at least 28 albums since 1979 which include everything from playing as an unaccompanied soloist to sessions on which he is featured in a duo, sextet, octet, a chamber ensemble, and his own Jazz Coalition Big Band. Among his more recent albums have been Live At The Rancho Mirage, The Sextet Session, Serenade To Highland Park, and Overtones. A brilliant player who extends the legacy of such greats as Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow and Herb Ellis, Doug MacDonald is heard in inspired form throughout Santa Monica Session. write your comments about the article :: © 2024 Jazz News :: home page |