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Article
courtesy of Modern Drummer
Photos
by Al Sayegh
The lyrics
from one of Ralph MacDonald's
songs on his latest CD, Home Grown, start
and end with words that sum up his life: "There
is no better life than the island life. I love the
island life, it makes my body free, it keeps my head
together." Understandable words, from a man
who worked hard all of his life to get to a place
that is peaceful, laid-back, and very rewarding.
A first-call session percussionist since the-mid '60s,
Ralph has performed on countless recordings with
just about everyone in the business. A partial list
includes Harry Belafonte, George Benson, David Bowie,
Diana Ross, Tom Scott, Bob James, Quincy Jones, Billy
Joel, Herbie Mann, Bette Midler, David Sanborn, Carly
Simon, James Taylor, Phoebe Snow, Grover Washington
Jr., and Steely Dan.
In 1980, MacDonald, along with his partners Bill
Salter and Bill Eaton, penned the number-1 hit "Just
The Two Of Us" for Grover Washington Jr. and
Bill Withers. (The tune was recently redone by actor/rapper
Will Smith.) Ralph and his partners are also the
songwriters for the 1971 Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway
classic "Where Is The Love," which became
a number-1 international hit, sold over ten million
copies, and won several Grammy awards.
Besides album dates as a percussionist, Ralph has
lent his groove to hundreds of jingles and movie
soundtracks, as well as many 12" disco classics
that we're still dancing to. Speaking
of disco, Ralph's publishing company, Antisia
Music, placed the song "Calypso Breakdown" on
the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. That
record went on to sell forty-seven million copies
and earn MacDonald two Grammys of his own. Not bad
for a percussionist who really just wanted to follow
in his dad's footsteps. "In my wildest
dreams," Ralph says today, "if I thought
I would be half as popular as my dad, I would have
been very satisfied. My dad was regionalóHarlem,
Brooklyn, and Queens. In the New York area, he was
very popular. But I never thought that I'd
be international."
These days MacDonald still spends his time writing
and recordingówhen he's not out on the
road touring with Jimmy Buffett, who he's been
with since the mid-'80s. "Jimmy first
called me to write some songs together," Ralph
recalls, "and we finally got together and wrote 'Creola' for
his Floridays album. Then we did a song
called 'King Of Somewhere Hot' and a
ballad called 'Pre-You.' Those two songs
are on his album Hot Water. So I had some
success with him as a songwriter. And then, around
1988, he said, 'Come join the band.' Around
that time, I was working with artists in the R&B
and jazz sceneóguys like George Benson, Bob
James, and Quincy Jones. I didn't think I'd
have fun playing Jimmy Buffettñtype music.
Well, Jimmy said, 'Come out and try it for
two weeks.' I've been there ever since."
 Over his long and incredibly successful career,
Ralph has also released numerous solo records. His
latest, Home Grown, features top-shelf talent
like Will Lee, Jeff Mirnov, and Tom Scott. And on
drums is longtime rhythm-mate Chris Parker. (See
the sidebar with Parker on page 75.) Home Grown is
yet another highlight in Ralph MacDonald's
stellar career.
MD: So your dad was a musician?
Ralph: Yes. He had a twelve-piece
orchestra and played a lot of calypso and Latin music.
He was always playing in bands opposite Tito Puente,
Tito Rodriguez, and Arsenio Rodriguez. So I grew
up with these people.
My dad's father was from Nigeria, so he knew
the African shango stuff, which I learned from him.
I'd hear the records that my dad and uncle
played. My dad was into the African rhythm, and of
course, being born in the Caribbean, he fused the
African and Caribbean together. Uncle Boug, my dad's
youngest brother, really taught me how to play the
conga drums. He played for a lot of dance classes,
and when I was a kid I used to play classes with
him. That's where I learned most of my rhythms.
MD: How old were you at the time?
Ralph: About fourteen. Growing
up in Harlem, I was heavily involved in a youth center,
The Harlem Boys Club. I started playing steel drums
there when I was fourteen years old. There was a
man from Trinidad by the name of Dr. Conrad Mojay
who started the steel band, and I joined. Also around
this time, some friends of mine were auditioning
for Harry Belafonte. I helped them carry the steel
drums down, and they got the gig.
MD: Were you familiar with Harry?
Did you know he was a star?
Ralph: Oh yeah, I knew he was big-time.
I didn't particularly care for him in those
days, though, because people from the Caribbean didn't
feel Harry Belafonte was an authentic calypso singer.
He was really a pop singer. He sang that sort of
music and people accepted it. But the songs were
beautiful, like "Jamaica Farewell" and "Island
In The Sun."
So I was sitting there one day, and one of the steel
band guys was late for rehearsal. Harry was angry
that the guy was late. So he looked at me and said, "Hey
kid, can you play?" [laughs] I said, "Sure,
I can play." I used to listen to the rehearsals
and then go home and practice on my steel drums,
so I knew all of the parts. When Harry said, "Well,
come and play," they were all amazed that I
could play all of the parts. Later on, Harry said, "C'mon
kid, you're coming on the road with us."
During that first year with Harry, Billy Eaton,
one of my musical partners, was hired as the conductor.
That's how we met. William Salter, my other
songwriting partner, was the bass player for Harry.
The three of us have been together for forty-two
years.
 MD: They got you into songwriting?
Ralph: Yes. When
I met Salter and Eaton, they were already songwriters.
I had never written a song. When we were
with Harry, we played a lot in Las Vegas and Lake
Tahoe. Now remember, I was seventeen years old and
I didn't gamble or drink, so there was nothing
for me to do. The show was an hour and ten minutes
long. We did one show at 8:00 and another at midnight.
So by 2:00 in the morning, I had nothing to do until
8:00 the following evening. So during all of that
downtime I would hang around with Salter and Eaton.
The first time I was hanging with them as they were
writing, I said, "Well, I have an idea for
a song. I don't have a melody, but I have some
lyrics." And Bill Salter said, "Just
write them down and give them to me." So I
did. The song was called "Is It Love," and
when Salter put a melody to it, he changed it to "Where
Is The Love," which ended up becoming a hit.
That was the first song I wrote.
MD: Do you read music?
Ralph: I read music now, but I
never learned to read in school. I learned on the
job. When you start doing TV commercials and movies,
the music has a lot of accents, and you have to be
right on to match the film. You could be playing
a bar of four and all of a sudden there will be a
measure of 6/4. You have to be able to read in that
setting.
I learned to read by hanging around with a lot of
the great drummers from my early days, and one who
helped me tremendously was Grady Tate. This is forty
years ago. Even though I couldn't read, I had
a very photographic memory. If I heard a song once,
I knew the arrangement. If it was a really hard part,
I'd go to Grady and he would sing it to me.
So during the five-minute break of the session, I'd
be singing the part to myself. When we'd go
back to record the tune, we'd come to that
section and I'd nail the part. Everybody would
say, "Wow, did you hear that, man? That guy
can read his eyes out." [laughs] But that's
the way it was. I owe a lot to people like Grady.
Bernard Purdie was another.
MD: You've played with
so many great drummers in your career.
Ralph: Some of my favorites are
Steve Gadd and Harvey Mason. Chris Parker is right
up there too. You know who else is a fabulous drummer?
Buddy Williams. When I go to a date and see these
people, I know it's going to be fun. Besides
being great friends, it's almost like a family
affair.
Speaking of Steve Gadd, everybody knows how great
he is. But what I think makes him really special
is that he's open to anything musically. We'd
be on a date and I could go to Steve and say, "Check
this out. Check this vibe." It would
be something totally different from what you would
normally tell a drummer to play, but Steve would
jump right in. He'd not only try it, he'd do it
and feel it.
I've been on dates with Steve, and after a
few songs I'd realize that he'd been
playing brushes. No drummer comes to a date and plays
with brushes. They want to play with sticks. You
know what I'm saying? So creative. He'd
be playing a shaker part with the brushes, which
would be so percussive. We had a ball together in
the studio. When you heard the rhythm we would create,
we'd be so locked in that it sounded like one
person playing.
People always ask me, "What's your favorite
percussion instrument?" I don't have
a favorite. The music dictates what instrument I
play. It could be a tambourine. It could be a finger
cymbal. It depends on what the music calls for. That
said, I've seen percussionists go to a date
with five trunks of gear, and they'd want to
play everything in there. People call me The Doctor;
I go to a date with a small doctor bag of gear and
people ask, "Ralph, where's your stuff?" I
say, "Right here in the bag." And they
start laughing. Someone once told me, "I worked
with a guy the other day who came in with six trunks.
The cartage company made more money than he did." [laughs]
 MD: You
just mentioned that the music dictates what instrument
you play. Do you think that way because you're
a songwriter?
Ralph: Definitely. I approach music
and percussion playing as a songwriter. There's
a form to any songóyou have an introduction,
a verse, a chorus, there might be a bridge, then
you go back to the verse, then back to the chorus,
then fade. The introduction doesn't sound like
the verse. The verse doesn't sound like the
chorus. And the chorus doesn't sound like the
bridge. They're all different moods. I would
never play something in the introduction and continue
playing it throughout the whole song, which a lot
of guys do. I approach each section differently.
Sometimes when I'm doing overdubs the producer
will say, "Ralph, just listen and play what
you want." I'll listen, and then the
producer will ask, "Ready to start?" I
say, "Yeah. Let's start at the fade." "The
fade?" "Yeah, start at the fade," because
the fade has the chorus vibe. When you get to the
fade it should be cooking like a mother. The fade always sounds
good. So I record my part on the fade, and now everybody's
saying, "That sounds good." Okay, this
section happens earlier in the song? "Yeah,
in the chorus." So I play the same part in
the choruses. All of a sudden the song takes on a
different shape. So I build my parts within the different
sections of the tunes.
The problem with some musicians today is, they never
had to accompany a singer, they just play. There
was no electronic music back when I was coming up.
It was acoustic, so you had to listen to
each other. That's how we created, that's
how we played, off of each other. It was all about
the vibe.
I remember playing with Gadd, Richard Tee, and Marcus
Miller. We'd be playing in the studio, and
all of a sudden, there was this new break in the
song that never existed before. But we came up with
it because we were listening to each other. Then
people would want to know, "Who did that arrangement?" Well,
that's our arrangement.
I remember doing a date with Quincy
Jones when I was his contractor. I'd be the
one who would put the band together, and it would
usually be Steve Gadd, Anthony
Jackson, Eric Gale, Richard Tee, and me. We were
out in California doing an album, and Quincy needed
another song to complete the album. He pulled me
aside and said, "MacZ"óhe
called me MacZó"I need another track.
Think you all can make up something for me?" "Shit,
yeah." So we started making a groove. Next
thing you know, we came up with the song "What
Makes You Feel Like Doing Stuff Like That." Remember
that one? SoundsÖAnd Stuff Like That! became
the title of Quincy's album, and the song "Stuff
Like That" was a big hit. He got Ashford & Simpson
to write some lyrics and Chaka Khan to sing the vocals.
But that was a song we made up on the spot in the
studio.
MD: Do you get called in to create
loops?
Ralph: Oh yeah, but I don't
do that anymore. I have my own setup at my house.
I did my new album Home Grown right here
at home. You want me to overdub on your album? You're
going to have to fly me out to California, pay for
a hotel, rent a studio, and pay me. Instead, why
not just send your files straight to me? I'll
record my parts at my house. That's what I
do now if I have to do overdubbing.
That said, I prefer to record my stuff live with
other musicians. I feel that when you use real musicians,
your music stands up and will take the test of time.
Look at all the old CPI recordings. That stuff still
sounds great.
MD: All the Stax and Motown
stuff, too.
Ralph: There you go, fresh as ever.
All that still stands up, because it was real. You
could feel it.
MD: How do you feel about electronics?
Ralph: Electronics are good for
certain situations. There have been a couple of times
when I'd be at home writing and doing demos,
and I'd use a drum machine just to keep time.
I could do it myself, but sometimes it's easier
to use a machine.
MD: You've been fortunate
to play with so many great drummers. But how do you
deal with a difficult drummer, say someone who's
not sensitive or who doesn't have the experience
of playing with a percussionist?
 Ralph: It's very hard. And
there are lots of that kind of player out there.
[laughs] I'm just happy that at this stage
of my career and life I don't have to deal
with a lot of them. I get to pick and choose. If
somebody asks me to do a gig, I want to know who's
playing. I don't ask about money, I want to
know who's in the rhythm section. If it's
one of my guys, cool.
To me, a drummer is supposed to play time. If I
want a melody played, I'm going to give it
to the saxophone. I'm not going to give it
to the drummer, unless it's a drum thing. To
me, the drummer should be all about the groove. Some
people think it's all about solos and shit,
but really, it's all about the groove.
MD: If a drummer was going to audition
for you, what qualities would you look for?
Ralph: Well, first thing, I'm
not interested in flashy drummers. I'm interested
in drummers who can play time. A lot of drummers
speed up and slow down. You've got to be able
to keep time. That's a big quality.
I've found that with good musicians, there's
only a few percentage points' difference between
them. When you get a guy who gives you 100%, how
can you complain? But when you get a guy like Steve
Gadd, Harvey Mason, or Chris Parker to come in and
give you 101%, that one percent takes the music so
much further. That's what makes these guys
special.
There are a lot of great drummers around, but there
aren't too many that like to groove with the
rhythm section. And that's especially true
for percussionists. A lot of percussionists can get
in the way. When a drummer sees me on a date, he
smiles because he knows that if he wants to stretch
out, it's no problem. I'm going to keep
the time.
MD: You've done so many recordings
that it's impossible to list them all. But
are there any that you consider to be memorable?
Ralph: Well, it's funny,
because I was lucky enough to play on a few songs
that were hits that I actually wrote. But I can remember
playing on George Benson's album Breezin'.
We had so much fun in the studio doing that one.
I can also remember doing some dates with Aretha
Franklin at Atlantic that were just fabulous. I also
remember doing dates with Roberta Flack at Regent
Sound in New York City.
I did some memorable dates for Quincy Jones. He
and I thought the same way. Maybe it's because
Quincy and I are both Pisces. [laughs] I would listen
to one of his tracks, go out in the studio, and before
he could say something to me, I would say the exact
thing he was thinking to him. It was weird. He didn't
speak, I didn't speak, but we were thinking
the same thing.
MD: Do you have a different approach
to the studio versus live?
Ralph: Live is the true test of
being a musician. In a studio you can set up and
say, "Let me go back and do that again." Live,
you've got to nail it the first time.
You get one shot.
People ask me, "Do you get nervous before
you play?" No, I get joy! I can't wait
to hit the stage. That's how prepared I am
and how focused I am when it comes to the music.
With Jimmy Buffett, we play three shows a weekóthree
or four days out of seven. That can get very boring
if you don't know how to occupy your time.
I use that time to do a lot of writing. I get more
rest when I'm working with Buffett than I do
when I'm home. [laughs]
 MD: Back
in January, at Yamaha's
Groove Night, you seemed like you were having a blast.
Ralph: Oh man, that's the
kind of gig I like. It's a breeze. And no drummer
can take a solo. [laughs]
MD: And Rick Marotta is the perfect
MC.
Ralph: Years ago, I put Rick in
Roberta Flack's band. After he came out of
her band, his stock shot up a thousand percent.
MD: You're responsible for
putting a lot of guys on the map.
Ralph: Well, a lot was due to the
fact that I've had my own studio since the '70s.
Most musicians didn't have a studio back then.
I had my own studio because I had a lot of productions
going on. So that meant I hired a lot of people.
I remember doing an album for Grover Washington
Jr. I always had Jon Faddis contract the horns for
me. One time Jon couldn't do the gig, so he
said, "I'm going to send a new guy to
you." I said no. "But this guy is good.
Don't worry about it." It turned out
to be Wynton Marsalis. [laughs]
MD: Tom Scott says that you turned
him on to the whole New York scene.
Ralph: Oh yeah, with the "New
York connection" band. Tom then turned me on
when he went out with the Ravi Shankar/George Harrison
band and they were playing those Indian rhythms.
Those guys are great musicians. I've played
all kinds of time, but those Indian rhythms are fascinating.
MD: How do you like to record percussion?
Ralph: I think the most important
thing with recording percussion is the placement
of the mic's. Some engineers know how to place
a mic' and just which one to use. I have a
big problem with engineers if I'm playing conga
drums and I go into the control room and the drums
sound like bongos. The engineer needs to come out
into the room and hear what the drums really sound
like.
The engineers I grew up with used to get out of
the control room and listen to you play in the room
and hear the sound. Then they'd go back into
the control room and try to duplicate that sound.
That's the sound, in the room. Again, I like
a natural sound. There are two engineers that I love
to work with, Elliot Scheiner and Al Schmitt.
MD: Would you say you're
a percussionist first or a songwriter?
Ralph: I became a musician first
and then I became a songwriter. I didn't
come in this business saying I wanted to be this
great producer or this great songwriter. All I wanted
to do was play music with good musicians.
I took it all in steps. I learned what playing music
was supposed to be about, and then I went into writing
and learned all about that. Then I learned about
producing. Then with the money I made from the songs
I wrote, I was able to open a studio. If you're
a songwriter and you've got a publishing company,
you've got to have a place to work. I had to
keep renting these studios, so finally I built my
own. As a result, I started doing real albums, not
just demos. So with the production deals I had, I
was able to hire other musicians.
MD: I'd like to ask you about
some of the drummers you've worked with. What
comes to mind when I mention Billy Cobham?
Ralph: Great, great, fabulous drummer.
I love him. I got to play with Billy on a Broadway
show called The Great White Hope. Billy
was the drummer and I was the percussionist. We laid
down some incredible stuff and had so much fun.
MD: Bernard Purdie.
Ralph: "Pretty" Purdie
taught me a lot about the groove. As a matter of
fact, I used to try to double Bernard's part
on my conga drums because it felt so good. He still
has it. Nobody plays like him.
MD: How about Tony Williams?
Ralph: Oh, there will never be
another Tony Williams. I remember when Tony passed
away. I was talking to Ron Carter, who called me
to tell me the news. I asked Ron, "Tell me,
what is it you'll miss most about Tony?" He
said, "Playing with him." That's
what it is with Tony. You just had to work with him
and play with him to see how nice it was. All you
had to do was listen, and you could tell he was special.
MD: Yogi Horton.
Ralph: Oh man, Yogi Horton. That
man should still be alive. Talk about a groove master.
He could always lay it down. He's another one
we lost too soon. Yogi was a fabulous player. I used
him on a track we did with Grover Washington Jr.
MD: Steve Jordan.
Ralph: Steve is another great one.
And he's come a long way. You've got
to remember, I watched guys like Jordan grow up.
They used to come in my studio, sit down, and just
be in awe of what we were doing, with their mouths
wide open. And to see Steve mature into who he is
now is just fabulous.
MD: Ndugu Chancler.
Ralph: I'm sort of partial
to Ndugu because he's another guy who's
got a groove and a halfójust a great, great
feeling. I love playing percussion with
him. This man has been in the industry for years.
Most guys have a five- or six-year run. But Ndugu's
been doing it since the '80s. His name is still
prominent.
MD: Let's talk a bit
more about percussion. When you listen to some
of the old Motown stuff with percussionist Jack
Ashford from The Funk Brothers, the tambourine
is almost a main instrument.
Ralph: That's right. Jack's
a genius with a tambourine. Matter of fact, I did
an overdub once for somebody from Atlanta where the
only percussion on the tape was Jack playing the
tambourine. When I heard the track I said, "Look,
we have to keep that tambourine. That part is so
great, I'm going to play around it."
MD: People think that anybody can
pick up a tambourine and play it. But to play it
the right way is not so easy. How would you describe
your style?
Ralph: Well, my style, believe
it or not, is straight from church. I learned from
a girl who was a gospel singer. She used to take
a small tambourine with a head on it and play it
on her butt, and you would be amazed. It's
all about the technique. You've got to have
a strong arm to play a tambourine. It looks easy,
but it's not. You play it for thirty seconds
and your hand feels like it's going to fall
off.
MD: What advice do you have for
percussionists and drummers coming up today?
Ralph: Always keep your mind open
to the music. Don't get stuck on only one kind
of music. Music is the international language that
speaks to the world, and if you want to speak to
the world, you should listen to all kinds of music.
When I was young, I used to put on Tito Puente records
and play along with them. Then I'd put on all
the R&B stuff and play along to that. Play to
everything.
I've had a good life. Music is the love of
my life, and I sing my thanks and praises to the
Lord every day. Everybody knows the deal. When you're
younger, you do stupid stuff. But as you get a bit
older, you get wiser and you get a little more mellow,
and hopefully you get a little wisdom. You start
to get comfortable with yourself. Don't come
in with the attitude, "I'm going to play
great so I get this gig." If you're there,
you've already got the gig.
When drummers and percussionists see me on the gig
with them, all of a sudden they want to show me all
they can do. Hey, I didn't hire you.
You better stop all that stuff and just play the
music. [laughs] You've got to satisfy the record
company, and you've got to satisfy the artist.
I also always try to make the producer happy because
he's the person that hired me. But remember,
you've always got to satisfy the music.
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