Ralph MacDonald, the highly regarded session musician, percussionist and songwriter responsible for hits including "Just the Two of Us" and "Where Is the Love?" passed away this week in Stamford, Connecticut from lung cancer.  He was 67.  MacDonald took up percussion at a very young age growing up in New York City and played with Harry Belafonte's band for about ten years before launching a solo career.

Over the years, MacDonald worked with some of music's biggest stars including Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Aretha Franklin to Luther Vandross and Amy Winehouse.  He also appeared on dozens of hits such as Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" and David Bowie's "Young Americans," earning a pair of Grammy Awards in 1978 as a producer and performer on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack.