“ORCHESTRAL JAZZ AND SAXOPHONE EXPRESS EMOTIONS”
Orchestral jazz with saxophone improvisations make Emotions a rich and moving experience. Composed by Frank Macchia, the music is performed by the Prague Orchestra.
The CD focuses on a four movement suite portraying the emotions Anger, Hope, Sorrow and Joy, featuring Macchia as the tenor sax soloist. Other compositions on the CD include modern arrangements of folk songs such as The Lonesome Road and Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair, as well as other originals by Macchia. Says Jazziz Magazine, “an inventive composer and arranger who deserves comparisons to Gil Evans and Pat Metheny.”
Macchia has worked with Van Dyke Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, Brian Wilson, Clare Fisher, Yes, and the Tonight Show Band; composed and orchestrated on numerous films and television shows. He was the recipient of a National Endowment Grant for Jazz Arts and was a Sundance Labs Composer Fellow in 2004.
Frank Macchia - Biography
Born and raised in San Francisco, CA., Frank started on the clarinet at the age of ten years old. Soon afterward he began studies on bassoon, saxophone and flute. By the age of fourteen he began studying composition, writing jazz and classical pieces for his high school band and orchestra and for jazz ensembles that rehearsed at the local union hall, including trumpeter Mike Vax's Big Band. In 1975-76 Frank wrote jazz/classical hybrid works that were performed by the San Francisco Symphony and local professional jazz musicians, and he composed and conducted an orchestral overture for his high school graduation ceremony. During this time period he also performed and arranged music for contemporary dance bands in the Bay Area.
In 1976 Frank attended Berklee College of Music, studying woodwinds with Joseph Viola, Joe Allard, Steve Grossman and composition/arranging with Herb Pomeroy, Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins, Tony Texiera, and Ken Pullig. From 1976-80 he performed and composed for the top student ensembles as well as performing with his own ensembles. He received a National Endowment Grant for the Arts to compose a 90 minute continuous jazz/classical suite for large ensemble. He also won Down Beat magazine's DB award for original big band composition in 1979. After graduating with a degree in traditional composition, Frank taught at Berklee at the tender age of 20, as well as performed throughout the New England area with his 8-piece fusion group, 'Booga-Booga'.
In 1981 Frank moved back to the San Francisco area where he continued working as a musician and composer/arranger over the next ten years, performing concerts with such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Rita Moreno, Tony Bennett, Jack Jones, Clare Fischer, Chuck Mangione, and the Temptations, to name a few. He performed with local groups such as The Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra, Mike Vax's Great American Jazz Band, Royal Street, the Dick Bright Orchestra and the Melotones. He also led his own original groups, including The Gleets, Desperate Character and The Frankie Maximum Band. In 1989 he recorded Introducing Frankie Maximum, an eclectic CD that showcased original material in a variety of styles, from new wave to polka. He followed that with the CD Frankie Maximum Goes Way-er Out West, a wild romp through traditional cowboy folksongs, done with new treatments (Ringo as a hip-hop jazz tune!?). This 1991 album received much critical praise including being named one of the top ten albums of the year by the Oakland Tribune
In 1991 Frank toured Germany performing in West Side Story and 42nd Street, and when that tour ended, he found himself in Los Angeles, where he has remained ever since. Since 1992 he has worked as a composer/orchestrator on many films and television projects, including Superman Returns, Fantastic Four, The Guardian, Miracle, X2-Xmen United, Men of Honor, Hide and Seek, Austin Powers:Goldmember, The Contender, The Apt Pupil, Santa Clause 2, and television shows Night Visions, Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah Cartoons, Disney's Oliver Twist, and the Tonight Show. In 2004 he attended the Sundance Composers Lab. In 2003 he completed his CD The Galapagos Suite, based on the animals of the Galapagos Islands, where he and his wife Tracy visited. His CD, "Animals" was released in Fall 2004, featuring Frank on multi-woodwinds and a roster of some of Los Angeles best musicians. The follow-up CD, Mo' Animals featured Billy Childs, Vinnie Colauita, Howard Levy and many other great jazz musicians. In Winter 2006 he completed Emotions, a CD featuring the Prague Orchestra and showcasing Frank’s tenor saxophone skills. He currently lives in Burbank, CA with his wife and son Charlie.
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