MP3 Bill MacDonough Quartet - House of Jade
Recorded Live for the Jazz Project''s Art of Jazz concert series, The Bill MacDonough Quartet is a piano-led classic jazz quartet with Bill MacDonough, piano, Julian MacDonough drums, Paul Chandler trumpet, and the legendary Jeff J
6 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Swing/Big Band, JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo
Details:
House of Jade: featuring the Bill MacDonough Quartet, with Bill MacDonough on piano, Julian MacDonough on drums, Paul Chandler on trumpet, and the legendary Jeff Johnson on bass is a classic piano led quartet. This performance was recorded live as part of the Jazz Project''s Art of Jazz series at Lucia Douglas Gallery, in Bellingham Washington. Bill has performed for the Project on many occasions, but this is his first recording as a leader. Below are the program notes for the concert and Bill''s reaction to the performance following a preview of this release:
Were there ever a Godfather of Jazz in Bellingham, BILL MACDONOUGH would be a made man. He has taught, accompanied, performed, or backed almost every musician in Bellingham playing local venues too many to name. OK here goes: Old Town Café, Beech House Pub, Cookie Café, Casino Bar & Grill, Blue Water Bistro, Chuckanut Manor, The Fairhaven, Bel Porto, Tony''s Coffee, Fairhaven Billiards, Bullies, Black Forest, Channel Landing, Majestic Hotel, Il Fiasco, The Metro (did we ever get paid?), Stuarts Coffee House (no we didn''t), Lummi Casino, Red River Casino, Marz Café, Port of Subs, Café Akroteri, Speedy O''Tubbs, The Up & Up, Bucks, Mt. Baker Brewery, Blue Maxx (later Red Baron, remember the Miller Girls), Elephant & Castle, Zumbarah, Bagelry, Top of the Towers, Caravan''s Crossing, Renaissance Café, Community Food Co-op, Fairhaven Bus, Matt''s Place, Packers at Semiahmoo, Boundary Bay, Poppe''s, Grand Avenue, The Breakwater, Calumet, Palmers. Which of the above venues have endured the test of time? Almost none. In fact, Bill can take pride in being the jazz fall guy for Bellingham''s failed jazz clubs. Which only goes to show you that the venues come and go, but the jazz family and the piano player remains the same. So when I get calls for a pianist, Bill''s name is inevitably bantered back and forth like a Bellingham Jazz Boss.
So if Bill is made, the n JULIAN MACDONOUGH is simply part of the family business. Now living in Seattle, he performs regularly with his own group which he frequently takes out on the boat, and as a sideman for players from Portland to Vancouver. Earlier this year he launched a 27 stop tour with the Mike Allen Trio that took him from Seattle to Bellingham to Vancouver and across Canada to promote their trio album Dialectic. He has recently been working "on the boat" with some local hamsters including Reece Marshburn, Roger Yamashita, Willie Mathias, and others. This is Julian''s fifth show for the Jazz Project having performed with Mike Allen, Julian Priester, Kelly Johnson, Christopher Woitach and today with the jazz Don himself. Some day soon, Julian will be made.
JEFF JOHNSON is another favorite among players in the area. A world-class player, by all accounts, he has the versatility to lead his own group (check out his CD, The Art of Falling, with Billy Mintz and Hans Teuber), or be the consummate sideman, as seven years with Hal Galper will attest. He has become my favorite among a vast list of West-coast bass players. He toured South America last year with vocalist, Karrin Allyson, and works regularly around Seattle with Ernestine Anderson. This is Jeff''s fifth Jazz Project concert, having performed with The Jud Sherwood Trio, Miles Black, Mimi Fox, countless others over at Poppe''s.
PAUL CHANDLER may be one of only three guys I know who graduated from WWU with a degree in Jazz Studies. The first one I knew of was Bill MacDonough (or was that composition?), and the last one was Paul. In fact, Paul may have received the very last jazz degree, since Western abolished the Jazz Studies major a year or two ago. Since that time, Paul took a one-year hiatus from his jazz studies to tour the world, and has just recently returned to the local jazz and music scene where he gigs as much as he can and plays "enough to pay the rent." Where he ends up will be anyone''s guess, as he has the talent, attitude, and musicianship to go just about anywhere.
Jud Sherwood
Jazz Project Director
October 26, 2003
Here''s what Bill MacDonough had to say about the live concert and recording.
"While reading Jud Sherwood''s program notes notes for
the concert here recorded I was astonished to find that he had compiled a list of all the establishments in and around Bellingham at which I had performed over the past 20 years. Amazed and flattered that anyone at all knew that much about my career I began to read down the list. I had no idea I had played in so many bars,clubs, hotels and restaurants but I was remembering every one of them as I stood there moments before the concert began. I remembered the tables, the decor, the bartenders, managers and patrons, the colors, the lighting, the atmosphere, the piano, everything. A quick flash of a visit to every joint I had ever played. I was given an immediate and broad sense of all the friendship and family that had built up through all of it and that was what the concert I was about to play was really all about. We enjoyed ourselves that afternoon. There we were. All together.
Thank you the beautiful musicians that joined me. Thank you Jud, Monique, Dorothy for the impeccible presentation. Extreme gratitude to all at the Jazz Project for the fine work they do in our city. Thank you Brian, Talley, Tom, Chris, Walt. Happy Birthday Monique and Julian, you''re starting to sound pretty good."
Cheers, Bill