L.A. Guitarist Doug MacDonald Releases New Trio Album, “Live in Beverly Hills”

JGT contributor Joe Barth talks to one of the prolific guitarists in Southern California, Doug MacDonald.  

Doug and his trio have released a new album, Live in Beverly Hills. Doug was asked to put a combo together for an Art Show in Beverly Hills.  The drummer on the date, Billy Paul, recorded the music, and the recording had wonderful sound quality.  But, more importantly, there was a special musical chemistry between the three musicians, Doug, bassist Lou Shoch, and Billy. I asked Doug about the experience.

JB:  Tell us the circumstances of this gig?

DM:  It has been a twice-yearly gig at The Beverly Hills Art Show. As things sometimes do, it changed.  Now I do it as a solo gig!

JB:  Why did you wait three years to release it?

DM:  Billy, the drummer, gave the gig’s sound engineer a recording device, who hooked it up and recorded the show.   When we got it, we didn’t think about it at the time.  Then later we listened to it, and were really happy with it, and decided to put it out now!

JB:  Of course, it is a great song, but why open the album with “Samba De Orfeo”? Interestingly, you would have the bass state the melody in the upper register.

DM:  That was the way we played it at the time. Lou took the lead as a kind of fresh approach to the tune.  It has a lot of energy to start the set with.

JB:  Next up are a couple of originals, “Unimpressed” and “Mall Blues.”  What brought about composing these?

DM:  “Unimpressed” is influenced by the great John Coltrane modal tune “Impressions,” and “Mall Blues” was a blues we made up during our residency at the large shopping mall in Century City, California.  

JB:  In “The Night has a 1000 Eyes,” you begin with a nice solo guitar introduction.

DM:  Thanks. It’s a great tune that was a huge hit for Bobby Vee in 1962. I believe it was from the 1948 Edward G. Robinson movie with the same title!

JB:  “Early in the Morning” is a hard swinging shuffle that features Lou on vocals.  Tell us about selecting this.

DM:  In our gigs, we would always feature Lou on a vocal or two. This one seemed to really stand out!

JB:  “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” was a huge hit for Peggy Lee, but it has been covered by Gerry Mulligan, Wes Montgomery, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, and many others.  Did you have one of these versions in mind as you performed it? 

DM:  No, I didn’t.  I just love the jazz waltz feeling of it!

JB:  What do you appreciate most about your rhythm section on the album, bassist Lou Shoch and drummer Billy Paul?

DM:  They really got a great groove and always followed where I was going, no matter what musical direction I took!

JB:  Nice solo guitar intro on Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays.” Countless musicians have covered it.  Did you have any version in mind as you performed it?

DM:  On this one, Wes’ rendition from his first album comes to mind.  It is so inspirational.

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