''Wide Open'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician Michael McDonald, released on September 15, 2017 by Chonin Records and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973 in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a pr ...

and McDonald produced the album. ''Wide Open'' is McDonald's first album of original material in 17 years since '' Blue Obsession'' (2000).

Background

In an interview with

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

, McDonald said many of the songs on ''Wide Open'' have to do with

sobriety Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations o ...

: "I realized that a lot of the songs, I put them in different context, storyline wise, but if they’re about anything, they’re about my coming to terms with my living out in the open and learning to live without substances to fill the hole, without self-medicating."

Critical reception

AllMusic senior editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

found that while McDonald "happily trades on the slow-burning R&B grooves and soft rock melodicism that made him a star in the '70s and '80s, there's not much of a feeling of pandering nostalgia here. Instead, McDonald seems to be integrating all his personas – the soul true believer, the godfather of smooth – in a record that not only feels true but, song for song, is sturdier than nearly all of the albums he recorded at his popular peak."

Track listing

All tracks produced by Michael McDonald and

Personnel

* Michael McDonald – lead and backing vocals, Wurlitzer organ (1, 4, 9, 10), electric guitar (1), horn arrangements (1), acoustic piano (2, 8, 9),

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(3, 7), harmonica (4), Wurlitzer electric piano (5), keyboards (6), acoustic guitar (6, 8, 10), additional synth pads and brass pad (7),

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

(7, 9), synthesizers (8), string arrangements (8) * Larry Goldings –

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

(1, 3, 8, 12) * Tim Akers – synthesizers (3) * Jeff Roach – synthesizers (4, 10) *

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

– synthesizers (5), Hammond B3 organ (5, 9, 10, 11) * John Peppard – synth sequencing (7), original arrangements (7) *

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

– synthesizers (7), synth effects (7) * Mike Rojas – Rhodes piano (12) * Andrew Ramsey – electric guitar (1) * Warren Haynes – electric guitar (2) * Robben Ford – electric guitar solo (2) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitch ...

– electric guitar (3, 7, 9, 11, 12), slide guitar (4), guitar solo outro (4), guitar solo (5), electric guitar fills (10) * Dann Huff – electric guitar (4, 8), acoustic guitar (4, 8), guitar solo (4) * Sol Littlefield – additional electric guitar (4), electric guitar solo (10) *

Bernie Chiaravalle Bernie Chiaravalle (born August 11, 1953) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is known for backing up Michael McDonald. Career Chiaravalle was born in Port Hueneme, California. He studied piano as a child and still plays it. Ac ...

– 12-string guitar (4), acoustic guitar (5) * David Levita – electric guitar (5, 8, 10), additional guitar (7), acoustic guitar (11), additional electric guitar (11), rhythm electric guitar (12), "robot" guitar solo (12) * Ilya Toshinski – acoustic guitar (6),

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

(6),

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(6), additional guitar (8) * Danny Rader – acoustic guitar (10), bouzouki (10) * Craig Young – bass (1, 10) * Willie Weeks – bass (2) *

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

– bass (3, 9) * Lance Morrison – bass (4) * Tony Lucido – bass (5) * Tommy Sims – bass (7, 11) * Leland Sklar – bass (8) * Michael Rhodes – bass (12) *

– drums (1-12), percussion (1, 3-7, 9-12), drum programming (3, 4, 6, 7, 8), brushes (6), synth bass (6), synthesizer (6), string arrangements (6), drum loops (10) * Mark Douthit – sax solo (1), saxophone (2, 11), additional horn arrangements (2), sax arrangement (11) * Ward Smith – tenor saxophone (2) * Tom Scott – sax solo (3, 12) *

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...

– soprano saxophone (7) * Scott Mayo – alto and tenor saxophones (9, 12) * George Shelby – baritone and tenor saxophones (9, 12) * Matt Perrine –

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...

(2) * Barry Green – trombone (2) * Mark Mullins – trombone (2), horn arrangements (2) * Andrew Lippman – trombone (9, 12) * Bobby Campo – trumpet (2) * Steve Patrick – trumpet (2) * Michael Leonhart – trumpet (3), flugelhorn (3), horn arrangements (3) * Harry Kim – trumpet (9, 12) * David Frank – horn arrangements (9, 12) * Matt McCauley – string arrangements and conductor (2) * The Kris Wilkinson Strings – strings (2) * Amy Holland – guest vocals (1) * Drea Rheneé – guest vocals (9)

Production

* Producers – Michael McDonald and Shannon Forrest * Production assistant – Kathy Walker * Recorded and mixed by Shannon Forrest * Additional engineers – Jarad Clement, Jasper LeMaster, Grady Walker and Nathan Yarborough. * Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

at Gateway Mastering (Portland, ME). * Art direction and package – Jordan Fann, Joel Hoffner and Jon Romero.

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 albums Michael McDonald (musician) albums BMG Rights Management albums