Larry McDonald

NEW YORK, NY

Larry McDonald is a Jamaican percussionist. He was born in Port Maria, Jamaica in 1939. McDonald played congas with Carlos Malcolm's band, Toots and the Maytals and the Count Ossie Band. He plays a wide variety of traditional percussion instruments. McDonald has a nearly 50-year history of recording and performing with a wide variety of artists, such as Gil Scott-Heron,and Taj Mahal. In 2009, McDonald released his first solo album "Drumquestra," which features many of his former collaborators, including Sly Dunbar, Uziah Thompson of Bob Marley and the Wailers and the former Count Ossie drummers known as the "Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari." in an orchestra of drummers. Drumquestra also featured former frontmen from bands Larry performed and recorded with, including Toots Hibbert, Bob Andy, Mutabaruka, Stranger Cole and Dollarman. The album was recorded at a live session at Harry J Studios in Kingston Jamaica by Steel Pulse producer Sidney Mills for Malik Al Nasir's MCPR label in the UAE, who released the album in 2009. MCRP also released two singles off the album the same year, "Head Over Heels" Featuring Dollarman and Sly Dunbar and "Set The Children Free" Featuring Toots Hibbert, the latter of which was subsequently re-mixed for dance-floors by Lenny B. Shortly after the album was released, Larry was honoured in July 2011, at the 14th annual 'Tributes to the Greats' award ceremony in Jamaica, with a lifetime achievement award for his 50-year contribution to Jamaican music.