A guitar/bass duo album may, not so long ago, have been, albeit wrongly, regarded as a recipe for boredom. However, these days duos have become the norm rather than the exception and, if the players have the chops, often provide good listening.
MacDonald and Newmark have the chops! They complement each other perfectly.
The Philadelphia born guitarist performed his trade in such locations as Hawaii and Las Vegas before settling in Southern California. Along the way he enriched the rhythm sections of such names as Trummy Young, Joe Williams, George Clooney's auntie, Ray Anthony, Buddy Rich, Ray Charles and many others.
Newmark too has a Buddy Rich tee shirt along with those of Supersax, Carmen McRae, Anita O'Day, Joe Henderson and the L.A. Philharmonic. Listen to the sound he gets on Easy Living and how easily the bass notes and the guitar chords intertwine with each other. As the blurb says, it's like four hands playing a single instrument.
Together they have produced an album that shows off their virtuosity without any showboating.
Seven standards, six MacDonald originals - it's tasteful - it's terrific!
Lance
Available from Feb. 5 via usual suspects.
Flamingo; My Little Boat; Baubles, Bangles, and Beads; These Foolish Things; Toluca Lake Jazz; Is This it?; Desert Jazz; Village Blues; De-Ha; Easy Living; Pleasante Pleasant; If I Had You; New World.
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