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Doug MacDonald: Santa Monica Session
by Richard J Salvucci
Does Doug MacDonald ever sleep? Take a day off? Make a bad recording? Somehow, a listener doubts it. Originally from Philadelphia--home to a few good guitarists, right?--MacDonald moved to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and then to Southern California. His current discography is nothing if not impressive, running to at least three dozen CDs, and MacDonald performs 300 times a year. Do the math. He performs 5 days out of 6 on average, not bad for a player half his age--and MacDonald ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald: Live at the Rancho Mirage Library
by Richard J Salvucci
"Another damn'd thick, square book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?" Well, maybe the Duke of Gloucester did (or did not say it) on the publication ofThe Rise and Fall of The Roman Empire, but something similar comes to mind when Doug McDonald's most recent recording comes to hand. “The SoCal guitarist has been at it for well over a half-century, and his recent (2022) Serenade to Highland Park was, in the words of Los Angeles jazz writer Kirk ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald: Sextet Session
by Jack Bowers
Guitarist Doug MacDonald records albums like someone who is either making up for lost time or does not have much time to spare. According to his discography, Sextet Session is at least the thirty-second album MacDonald has led or co-led, almost half of which have been released in the past couple of years or so. To keep things fresh, MacDonald has performed with almost every size group from big band to duo, but not often with as sharp and experienced ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald Trio: Edwin Alley
by Jack Bowers
Los Angeles-based guitarist Doug MacDonald, busy as ever, is comfortable in any setting, from big band to solo. On Edwin Alley, MacDonald leads a trio (Mike Flick, bass; Kendall Kay, drums) through eight of his bright and well-drawn original compositions and one standard, the amorous entreaty “You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." The album is a follow-up to MacDonald's impressive trio date Serenade to Highland Park and is his tenth recording as a leader in the last six ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald: Big Band Extravaganza
by Richard J Salvucci
Some reviewers have been known to complain that contemporary big bands can do most anything but swing. Like all generalizations, there is some merit to the observation. But, like all generalizations, the occasional exception falsifies it. Looking for a big band that pushes all the right buttons? Look no further. Doug MacDonald's “desert jazz" band is an extremely good one. While it might be difficult to make claims about the novelty of what is on offer, the band is tight, ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald: Big Band Extravaganza
by Jack Bowers
Pardon the superlative, but what a terrific album! Extravanga marks the debut of guitarist Doug MacDonald's seventeen-member Jazz Orchestra, and he has guaranteed that it swings with gusto by writing nine perceptive and luminous charts that are sure to bring out the best in any ensemble, especially one as well-equipped as this. During his decades-long career as one of the West Coast's foremost guitarists, MacDonald has recorded fifteen albums with groups ranging from solo to duo, quartet to brass and ...
Continue ReadingDoug MacDonald: I'll See You in My Dreams
by Jack Bowers
There is at least one constant in guitarist Doug MacDonald's long and rewarding career: he likes to stay busy, whether hosting live gigs or inhabiting a recording studio. MacDonald's latest quartet session, I'll See You in My Dreams, is at least his twenty- ninth as leader of groups of various sizes and shapes. It is also a homecoming of sorts, as MacDonald is reunited here with the co-leaders of one of his earlier employers, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, namely bassist ...
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