DOUG MacDONALD TRIO, Live in Beverly Hills

In addition to establishing himself as one of Southern California’s most versatile and prolific jazz composers and guitarists, Doug MacDonald uses his multi-faceted discography to serve as something of a regional tour guide over the past decade.

While his 2021 album Live in Hawaii was the Philly native’s nod to growing up in the Aloha State, he’s otherwise been strumming, swinging, bopping and booming in locales familiar to SoCal jazz fans – including The Coachella Valley Trio, Toluca Lake Jazz, Serenade to Highland Park, Edwin Alley (a historic location in the heart of Pasadena) and Live at the Rancho Mirage Library.

Somewhere along the way, a tape made of an incredible performance he did in 2012 at an art show in Beverly Hills with L.A. stalwarts Billy Paul (drums) and the late Lou Schoch (bass) was somehow overlooked for release – till now. Billed to the Doug MacDonald Trio, Live in Beverly Hills is another stellar, timeless, stylistically diverse and soulfully fluid and grooving date showcasing three top talents at the top of their game for an appreciative audience.

The repertoire on that long ago but somehow eternally present day included an exotic romp through Luis Bonfa’s “Samba De Orfeo,” a lively, snappy strut through “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,” a rhythmically crafty, lyrical and swaying “Baubles Bangles and Beads” and and the customary batch of inventive MacDonald originals – the high energy, fast strumming minor toned “Unimpressed” (sorry, but we’re impressed!), the frisky “Mall Blues.” Adding fun and variety to this incredible set is Schoch’s spirited vocal energy on Louis Jordan’s jumpy blues classic “Early in the Morning.”