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Wikipedia / Ralph MacDonald

Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer.

His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the duet of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; "Just the Two of Us", recorded by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.; and "Mister Magic" recorded by Grover Washington Jr.

Career

Growing up in Harlem, New York, United States, under the close mentorship of his Trinbagonian father, Patrick MacDonald (a calypsonian and bandleader originally from Trinidad and Tobago who used the stage name "Macbeth the Great"), MacDonald began showing his musical talent, particularly with the steelpan, and when he was 17 years old started playing pan for the Harry Belafonte show.

He remained with the Belafonte band for a decade before deciding to strike out on his own. In 1967, together with Bill Eaton and William Salter, he formed Antisia Music Incorporated. Antisia is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

In 1971, Roberta Flack recorded "Where Is the Love", which MacDonald and Salter had written. The duet with Donny Hathaway won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The single was awarded gold status and sold more than one million copies. MacDonald played on the session for the song.

He performed on Herbie Mann's album Discothèque in 1975. One of MacDonald's best-known co-compositions is "Just the Two of Us", a single sung by Bill Withers, with saxophone performance by Grover Washington, Jr. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and has since been covered and sampled by many artists, including Will Smith.

Later life

MacDonald regularly travelled back to Trinidad and Tobago, where he renewed his work in the steelpan, particularly on the hills of Laventille, Trinidad, with the multiple Steelband Panorama champions Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, whose shows he attended and with whom he played whenever he got the opportunity, "beating iron" in "The Engine Room" (as a steelband's rhythm section is often called). Calypso and the steelpan were Ralph MacDonald's roots. He recorded a song called "You Need More Calypso", written by William Eaton to articulate how he felt the music world could more benefit by the genre his homeland had given to the world.

On December 18, 2011, MacDonald died of lung cancer. His wife, Grace, and four children Jovonni, Anthony, Atiba, and Nefra-Ann survive him. MacDonald was cremated, with his ashes buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Discography

His recording collaborations number in the hundreds and include Burt Bacharach, George Benson, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Art Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Quincy Jones, Carole King, Miriam Makeba, David Sanborn, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Luther Vandross, Amy Winehouse, Bob James, Ashford and Simpson, Nana Mouskouri, The Average White Band, Hall & Oates, The Brothers Johnson, and he spent years as a charter member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.

He is also featured on percussion on George Benson's 1976 album, Breezin'; on percussion on Carole King's 1975 album, Thoroughbred, and on Looking Glass's 1973 album Subway Serenade.

His song "Jam on the Groove" was featured on the breakbeat compilation Ultimate Breaks and Beats. His "Calypso Breakdown" is on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. He provided the percussion to "Mister Magic" recorded by saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.

MacDonald also appears on Amy Lee's CD Use Me.

As leader

  • Sound of a Drum (Marlin, 1976)

  • The Path (Marlin, 1978)

  • Counterpoint (Marlin, 1979)

  • Universal Rhythm (Polydor, 1984)

  • Surprize (Polydor, 1985)

  • Reunion (Videoarts Music, 1995)

  • Port Pleasure (1998)

  • Trippin (2000)

  • Home Grown (2003)

  • Just the Two of Us (2004)

  • Mixty Motions (2008)

As sideman

With Peter Allen

With Average White Band

  • AWB (Atlantic, 1974)

With Patti Austin

With Ashford & Simpson

  • Gimme Something Real (Warner Bros., 1973)

  • I Wanna Be Selfish (Warner Bros., 1974)

  • Come As You Are (Warner Bros., 1976)

  • Send It (Warner Bros., 1977)

  • So So Satisfied (Warner Bros., 1977)

  • Is It Still Good to Ya (Warner Bros., 1978)

  • Stay Free (Warner Bros., 1979)

  • A Musical Affair (Warner Bros., 1980)

  • High-Rise (Capitol, 1983)

  • Solid (Capitol, 1984)

With Gato Barbieri

  • Caliente (A&M Records, 1976, 1986, CD 3247)

With Bee Gees

With George Benson

With Blood, Sweat & Tears

With David Bowie

With The Brecker Brothers

With Martin Briley

With The Brothers Johnson

With James Brown

  • Hell (Polydor, 1974)

With Jimmy Buffett

With Kenny Burrell and Grover Washington Jr.

With Jonathan Butler

  • Jonathan Butler (Jive, 1987)

With Ron Carter

With The Carpenters

With Merry Clayton

  • Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow (Ode, 1975)

With Judy Collins

With Randy Crawford

With Lou Courtney

  • I'm In Need of Love (Epic, 1974)

With Jackie DeShannon

With Paul Desmond

With Yvonne Elliman

With Little Feat

With Roberta Flack

With Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

With Aretha Franklin

With Michael Franks

With Glenn Frey

With Art Garfunkel

With Barry Goldberg

  • Barry Goldberg (Atco Records, 1974)

With Lesley Gore

  • Love Me By Name (A&M, 1976)

With Hall & Oates

With John Hall

  • Recovered (Siren, 1998)

With Tim Hardin

With Donny Hathaway

With Lena Horne

With Bob James

With Bob James and Earl Klugh

With Milt Jackson

With Al Jarreau

  • Glow (Reprise, 1976)

With Garland Jeffreys

With Billy Joel

With Dr. John

With Margie Joseph

  • Margie Joseph (Atlantic, 1973)

  • Sweet Surrender (Atlantic, 1974)

  • Margie (Atlantic, 1975)

With Eric Kaz

  • If You're Lonely (Atlantic Records, 1972)

With Carole King

With Morgana King

  • New Beginnings (Paramount Records, 1973)

With Hubert Laws

With Donal Leace

  • Donal Leace (Atlantic Records, 1972)

With Julian Lennon

With O'Donel Levy

With Kenny Loggins

With Jon Lucien

  • Mind's Eye (RCA, 1974)

  • Premonition (Columbia, 1976)

With Elliot Lurie

  • Elliot Lurie (Epic Records, 1975)

With Taj Mahal

  • Taj (Gramavision, 1987)

With Junior Mance

With Herbie Mann

  • Discotheque (Atlantic, 1975)

  • Brazil Once Again (Atlantic, 1978)

With Arif Mardin

With Esther Marrow

  • Sister Woman (Fantasy, 1972)

With Mac McAnally

  • Semi-True Stories (Mailboat Records, 2004)

With Gene McDaniels

  • Natural Juices (Ode, 1975)

With Don McLean

With Bette Midler

With Melba Moore

With The Neville Brothers

With David "Fathead" Newman

With Laura Nyro

With Teddy Pendergrass

With Esther Phillips

  • Alone Again, Naturally (Kudu, 1972)

  • Performance (Kudu, 1974)

  • Capricorn Princess (Kudu, 1976)

  • What a Diff'rence a Day Makes (Kudu, 1976)

  • For All We Know (Kudu, 1976)

With John Prine

With Bernard Purdie

With Bonnie Raitt

With The Rascals

With Lou Rawls

  • It's Supposed to Be Fun (Blue Note, 1990)

With Leon Redbone

With Martha Reeves

With Lionel Richie

With The Ritchie Family

With Max Roach

With Diana Ross

With David Ruffin

With David Sanborn

With Shirley Scott

With Don Sebesky

With Janis Siegel

  • Experiment in White (Atlantic Records, 1982)

With Carly Simon

With Lucy Simon

  • Lucy Simon (RCA Victor, 1975)

With Paul Simon

With Frank Sinatra

With Phoebe Snow

With Splinter

  • Harder to Live (Dark Horse, 1975)

With Starland Vocal Band

With Steely Dan

With Gábor Szabó

With Howard Tate

With James Taylor

With Kate Taylor

With The Manhattan Transfer

With Kenny Vance

  • Vance 32 (Atlantic, 1975)

With Grover Washington Jr.

With Mary Lou Williams

  • Mary Lou's Mass (Mary Records, 1975)

With Cris Williamson

  • Cris Williamson (Ampex Records, 1971)

With Bill Withers

With Zulema

  • Zulema (Sussex, 1972)

References