Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949)

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

who also performs under the stage name Little Axe.

Career

Early career

Grounded in

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

learned from his father, a steel worker who played blues guitar at weekends, McDonald spent his early days playing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

, and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, and eventually relocated to New York City as a teenager with his band of friends, called The Entertainers. McDonald formed the group Wood Brass & Steel in 1973 with

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

Harold Sargent. The group recorded two albums before their 1979 breakup. He then became part of the house band for

Sugarhill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hill ...

and appeared as a

session player Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

on many early

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

albums, including " The Message" by

Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, Sc ...

Post-Sugarhill

After leaving Sugarhill, McDonald, Wimbish, and drummer

Keith LeBlanc Keith LeBlanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead. His record " No Sell Out" was one of the first sample-based releases. The song was a success, charting at No. 60 on the UK Singles ...

began working with

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing technique ...

, and eventually formed the trio into the industrial/dub group

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, indus ...

, initially fronted by

Gary Clail Gary Clail (born 1956) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in ...

and later

Bernard Fowler Bernard Fowler (born January 2, 1960) is an American musician. He is known for a long association with The Rolling Stones, providing backing vocals since 1989 and on their studio recordings and live tours. Fowler has been a featured guest vocal ...

. McDonald would also collaborate with Sherwood on other projects, including albums by African Head Charge and Mark Stewart. In the 1990s, McDonald assumed the

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Little Axe" and began moving from hip hop to a form of blues that drew from an array of musical influences, including dub, R&B, gospel, and jazz. He has been working steadily as a

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, recording both his own blues albums, continuing to appear as a guest act on other artists' albums as well. His most recent albums have been released on

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

Alan Glen Alan Glen (born 21 December 1951) is a British blues harmonica player, best known for his work with The Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero, Little Axe, and his own bands, The Barcodes and The Incredible Blues Puppies. Career Glen started playing ...

is often featured on

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

on these albums. In 2009 he collaborated with

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

n musician Daby Touré to produce a record titled ''Call My Name''. As of 2016, he still tours and gigs regularly, has a loyal following and is in regular demand for session work as a guitarist.

Discography

* ''Never Turn Back'' (1993, Spin) * '' The Wolf that House Built'' (1994,

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

/Wired) * '' Slow Fuse'' (1996, Wired) * '' Hard Grind'' (2002, On-U Sound) * '' Champagne & Grits'' (2004, Real World/

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

) * '' Stone Cold Ohio'' (2006, Real World/Virgin) * ''

Bought for a Dollar, Sold for a Dime ''Bought for a Dollar, Sold for a Dime'' is the sixth album by Little Axe, released on June 7, 2010 by Real World Records. The album was originally issued as in demo form as digital download in May 2008. Track listing Personnel ;Musici ...

'' (2010, Real World) * '' If You Want Loyalty Buy a Dog'' (2011, On-U Sound) * ''Wanted - Live 1996'' (2012, Little Axe Recordings) * ''Return'' (2013, Echo Beach) * ''One Man - One Night'' (2016, 12:10 Records) * ''London Blues'' (2017, Echo Beach)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Axe 1949 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers American session musicians Songwriters from Ohio Record producers from Ohio Fat Possum Records artists Singers from Ohio Musicians from Dayton, Ohio Real World Records artists Tackhead members Guitarists from Ohio 20th-century American guitarists Fats Comet members 21st-century American guitarists