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Rich Bullock
Doug 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, ...
read moreDoug 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 ...
read moreThe Scott Whitfield Jazz Orchestra West: Postcards from Hollywood
by Jack Bowers
While many people have been excited or enraptured by the music scores accompanying Hollywood's most beloved films, few know (or perhaps even care) who wrote them. That's a shame, as these composers (and their contemporaries) were musical trailblazers whose names should be enshrined forever in the annals of artistic brilliance. One who does care is composer/arranger Scott Whitfield who has dedicated the latest album by his Jazz Orchestra West, Postcards from Hollywood, to their remarkable (and too-often overlooked) legacy.
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