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Michael McDonaldBrings blue-eyed soul back with � rst album in nine years

SEE OUR ADON THE BACKCOVER

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LongIslandWeekly.com • January 24 - 30, 2018 • Published By Anton Media Group • To Advertise Call: 516-747-8282

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Wide Open With Michael McDonaldBY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO

DGILDERUBIO@ANTONMEDIAGROUP.COM

If the late James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, then Michael McDonald

runs a close second. Ever since he became a member of Steely Dan in 1974, the St. Louis native has packed a lot of musical living into the four-plus decades that have elapsed since then. A five-time Grammy winner, McDonald’s distinctive blue-eyed soul singing not only found him transi-tioning into the ranks of the platinum album-selling ranks of The Doobie Brothers, but he’s carved out a wildly successful career that’s also found him collaborating with a wide range of artists including Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Ray Charles, Grizzly Bear, Kenny Loggins, Thundercat and even Van Halen. And while last year found him joining forces with Don Was, Warren Haynes and country singer Jamey Johnson on the Last Waltz 40, a tribute show tied to The Band’s 1976 farewell concert, McDonald also managed to find time to release Wide Open, his first album of all-original

material since 2000 and latest record-ing in nine years. What started out as a bunch of demos he’d been working on with family friend, drummer/engineer Shannon Forrest, who he was temporarily sharing a recording space with in Nashville, evolved into a full-fledged dozen songs.

“Shannon and I had been co-opting this space. He had a big console and I had a bunch of old amps and keyboards. We both kind of developed this analog palace, if you will, of old gear,” he recalled with a laugh. “Whenever I was in town, I’d buy him dinner and we’d make these demos. Shannon’s design had been to build his own room, so when I was in town, I came by to see it. It was beautiful and in the course of pulling it together, he was using those demos to tune the room for proper mic-ing and [sonics]. He’d redone the drums on the songs and with what we’d already laid down, he thought I had the start of a record.

Little by little, we built the album out of those early demos and started bringing in real bass players and guitarists to replace my pathetic guitar playing.”

McDonald and Forrest brought in an impressive array of talent to help flesh out these songs. Among the notable names who pitched in were

stalwarts McDonald had worked with before includ-

ing saxophonist Tom Scott, bassist Marcus Miller and guitarists Warren Haynes and Robben Ford.

While his former bandmates in Steely

Dan and The Doobie Brothers will be co-

headlining later in the year, McDonald will be spending the

early part of 2018 touring with his crack group of backup musicians. And while he’s enthralled to be hitting the stage with his band (“To be out here with this group of musicians and able to play this stuff with guys who handle it so well is really a privilege for me,”) he’s always open to reuniting with old

musical friends, should the opportuni-ty present itself.

“I haven’t been approached about any of those dates. And for the Doobies, I think it’s important to put it out there what they are at this point and time, which is one of the all-time great rock and roll bands and they sound better than ever at this point. In the meantime, they’re knocking it out of the park every night,” he said. “And I know Donald [Fagen] is always going to have a great band, and it’s always going to sound good. I know it’s been difficult for him since Walter [Becker] passed. But musically, Donald is a very capable guy on stage. I wish him the best. Any chance I get to play with either one of those [acts], I always jump at it.”

Michael McDonald will be appearing on Feb. 10 at The Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, 720 Northern Blvd., Greenvale. For more information, visit www.tillescenter.org or call 516-299-3100. Visit www.longislandweekly.com to read a full version of this story. Go to 8A to read about Michael McDonald’s favorite piano-playing vocalists.

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Michael McDonald (second from

right) with the Doobie Brothers

circa 1977(Photo courtesy

of Warner/Reprise Records)

Michael McDonald (inset)

(Photo courtesy of db King)

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ANTON MEDIA GROUP • JANUARY 24 - 30, 20188A

BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIOdgilderuBio@antonmediagroup.com

Few artists this side of Daryl Hall possess the kind of rich, blue-eyed soul phrasing that Michael McDonald possesses. In addition to having an incred-ibly rich musical background that’s found him bal-ancing stints in Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers with an incredibly successful solo career and various music collaborations, McDonald has become a pop culture icon associated with everything from Family Guy to the Yacht Rock phenomenon. The respected singer-songwriter recently shared some of his favorite vocalists who also happen to tickle the 88s.

Ray Charles (September 23, 1930-June 10, 2004)“Ray Charles was my greatest inspiration from the

time I was a kid growing up. I learned what soul mu-sic was about by listening to Ray Charles. It brought the art of being a soul singer to me mentally and from that, I could appreciate so many other artists and singers like Marvin Gaye. Ray Charles was the first opening of that door to rhythm and blues music to me and the genius of it. What happens in a musical phrase sung the right way along with accompanying himself on piano—it was a level of which very few of us will ever achieve.”

Leon Russell (April 2, 1942-November 13, 2016)

“I’ve always loved Leon Russell and his style of playing and his ability to put a song over. And of course, his writing is beyond excellent. Some of the stuff that he’s written over the years is profoundly genius and so much in the tradition of gospel and blues.”

Harry Connick Jr. (September 11, 1967-present)“I love his musicianship and the way he comes

across as a piano-playing vocalist. He’s got such great style and soulfulness. I think Harry is really the guy whose roots are very deep in the New Orleans tradi-tion. On that other level of Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, to me, he is the true carrier of the torch of big band stuff because he brings all of that, in some ways, transcends what’s come before. And that’s because of his very street-level knowledge of music.”

Michael McDonald will be appearing on Feb. 10 at The Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, 720 Northern Blvd., Greenvale. For more information, visit www.tillescenter.org or call 516-299-3100. Visit www.longislandweekly.com to read a full feature on Michael McDonald.

Michael McDonald’s Fave Singing Pianists

Leon Russell(Photo courtesy of Shelter/Blue Thumb Records)

Ray Charles (Photo by Victor Diaz Lamich)

MUSIC

Michael McDonald (Photo by

Timothy White)Harry Connick Jr. (Photo by Athena LeTrelle)

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