Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949) Allmusic biography/ref> is an American musician 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 A ...

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 majo ...

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 a ...

, 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 s ...

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 drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

Harold Sargent. The group recorded two albums before their 1979 breakup. He then became part of the house band for Sugarhill Records and appeared as a session player on many early rap albums, including " The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five.

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 Singl ...

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 techniqu ...

, 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, in ...

, 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 African Head Charge is a psychedelic dub ensemble active since the early 1980s. The group was formed by percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, and featured a revolving cast of members, including Prisoner, Nick Plytas, Crocodile, Junior Moses, Sunny Ak ...

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. Alan Glen 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 in ...

on these albums. In 2009 he collaborated with Mauritanian 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/Wired) * ''

Slow Fuse ''Slow Fuse'' is the second album by Little Axe, released on September 30, 1996 by Wired Recordings. The album was re-issued as a digital download in 2014 featuring additional tracks. Track listing Personnel ;Musicians *Saz Bell � ...

'' (1996, Wired) * ''

Hard Grind ''Hard Grind'' is the third album by Little Axe, released on June 11, 2002 by On-U Sound Records. Track listing Personnel ;Musicians *Tony Duffy – guitar (1) *Alan Glen – harmonica (2, 3, 5, 6, 10) *Kieran Kiely – pi ...

'' (2002, On-U Sound) * '' Champagne & Grits'' (2004, Real World/ Virgin) * ''

Stone Cold Ohio ''Stone Cold Ohio'' is the fifth album by Little Axe, released on August 14, 2006 by Real World Records and Virgin Records. Track listing Personnel ;Musicians * Will Calhoun – drums and percussion (3, 14) *Madeline Edgehill ...

'' (2006, Real World/Virgin) * '' Bought for a Dollar, Sold for a Dime'' (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