"If you want to hear the music without the hype you should be listening to Prodipe."
Clarence McDonald is an American musical treasure whose career spans more than 40 years of sublime influence as a writer, producer, performer and arranger. Comfortable within any genre of music, McDonald's keyboard performances have been recorded with an incredible list of entertainment icons including Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Justin Timberlake, Hall & Oates, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, Bill Withers, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, Carole King, Seals & Crofts, Tina Turner, David T. Walker and The Carpenters.
McDonald's writing, production and arranging credits include collaborations with Bill Withers, The Emotions, Freddy Hubbard, Euge Groove, Patty LaBelle, Michael Lington, Johnny Mathis, The Memphis Horns, Billy Preston, Stanley Turrentine, Deniece Williams, and Nancy Wilson among many others. McDonald’s ability, standard, and work ethic have ingratiated him with numerous entertainment icons.
Marlena Shaw describes him as “ intuitive…as an accompanist, invaluable as a co-worker and a friend… Clarence is a constant.” David T. Walker calls him “… one of my favorite pianists…”.
McDonald toured and recorded with Ray Charles in the mid- Sixties. Forty years later, he was chosen to work with Ray again on “Heaven Help Us All”, the Grammy-Winning Best Gospel Song duet with Gladys Knight. McDonald’s arranging skills were also a part of that award-winning effort.
The song appeared on Ray’s last CD, Genius Loves Company (2004). More recently, popular recording artist Euge Groove asked McDonald to play piano, Fender Rhodes and Hammond B3 for the album Just Feels Right (2005), Justin Timberlake called on his organ skills for “Over Again” on the album FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), Michael Lington summoned McDonald’s writing skills to co-write the tune “Ladyland” for his album Heat (2008).
For her award-winning effort “Honey” (2009), Erykah Badu grabbed samples of McDonald’s writing and production skills from the song “I’m In Love”, originally written and produced for Nancy Wilson. “The thing that remains consistent,” says Sonny Burke, musical director for Smokey Robinson, “is the standard of excellence provided by Clarence McDonald.”
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