Santa Monica Session
Dmac, 2025
9/10
Listen to Santa Monica Session
The seminal guitarist Doug MacDonald is a music making machine, and this time he brings us 5 standards and 3 originals that welcome Bill Cantos, Hussain Jiffry and Kevin Winard.
The animated and rich “Lady Bird” opens with MacDonald’s inimitable guitar amid plenty of grooves and Jiffry’s playful bass lines, and “Minor Makeup” follows with Winard’s frisky drumming that suits the radiant guitar chops.
The middle tracks offer “Tele Time” and “Walkin’”. The former is a bit dreamy and moves with a stylish demeanor that benefits from Winard’s percussion, while the latter is a tad calmer but no less intriguing, as it builds into a hand clapping, toe tapping album highlight.
Landing near the end, “dmac” finds itself in textured and melodic areas of timeless jazz, and “Perdido” exits with no lack of culture, where the mesmerizing rhythm section and Cantos’ elegant keys help illuminate the signature guitar playing.
If you’re a fan of guitar focused jazz, there is no bad place to start in MacDonald’s lengthy back catalog, and these 8 tracks are further proof that he’s as prolific as he is impactful.
Travels well with: Doug MacDonald- Live At The Rancho Mirage Library; Doug MacDonald- Sextet Session