Doug MacDonald is a fine bop-based guitarist in the tradition of Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, and Joe Pass. He was raised in Honolulu and started on guitar when he was 13, having briefly played trombone before. MacDonald moved to Los Angeles in 1984 after a year in Las Vegas and made a strong impression as a freelancer. In 1990, he relocated to New York. Doug MacDonald has played with top musicians, including Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Buddy Rich, Hank Jones, Bob Cooper, Bill Holman, Jack Sheldon, and many others, recording with Sheldon, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, and as a leader for Cexton and Resurgent; one of the latter is a nonet album. ~ Scott Yanow