Frank Macchia profile picture

Frank Macchia

About Me

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Currently residing in Los Angeles, Frank was born and raised in San Francisco, CA.,where he 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 at the Summer Music Workshop Programs, 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 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, 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 productions of West Side Story and 42nd Street, and when that tour was over, 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, The Fantastic Four, The Guardian, Miracle, X2-Xmen United, Men of Honor, Eight Legged Freaks, 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. From 1997-2001 he created a series of five original audio horror stories CDs with full underscore entitled "Little Evil Things", which received critical acclaim. In 2003 he completed the jazz/world CD "The Galapagos Suite", a six movement suite based on the animals of the Galapagos Islands, where he and his wife Tracy visited. His CD, "Animals" was released in Fall 2004, and the follow-up "Mo' Animals" in Winter 2006, featuring Frank on multi-woodwinds and a roster of some of Los Angeles best musicians. His CD, "Emotions" featuring the Prague Orchestra and Frank on tenor sax, was released in January 2007. It received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement and was followed by another CD with the Prague Orchestra, entitled "Landscapes". His latest CD is "Saxolollapalooza" featuring Frank and 5 other top Los Angeles saxophonists plus drummer Peter Erskine doing more wild n crazy arrangements by Frank. It's all available at his website, frankmacchia.net , as well as amazon.com and cdbaby.com . You can also find Frank's music on iTunes. He lives in Burbank, CA with his wife and son Charlie.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/01/2007
Band Website: www.frankmacchia.net
Band Members: Frank plays: Saxes (from soprano to bass sax); Flutes (from piccolo to contrabass flute); Clarinets (from Bb clarinet to BBb contrabass clarinet); ocarinas and ethnic winds; synthesizers, and composes and arranges very strange music!
Keyboards: Billy Childs, John Rosenberg, Mike Hatfield
Guitars: Grant Geissman, Eric Jensen, John Hoy, Rick Myers
Bass: Dave Carpenter, John Hettel, Tommy Lockett
Drums: Peter Erskine, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mike Hyman, Jim Helman, Robert Freeberg, Rodney Smith
Percussion: Scott Breadman, Larry Walker, Mike Hatfield, Jon Eeg-Henriksen, Aaron Smith, Craig Bunch
Brass: Wayne Bergeron, Mark Isham, Larry Hall, Bruce Fowler, Alex Iles, Ken Kugler, Kevin Porter, Rick Walsh, Mike Peipman, Steve Campos, Brian Boothe, Marvin McFadden, Michael Plumleigh
Woodwinds: Valarie King, Howard Levy, Alex Murzyn, Tim Price (S.F.), Rob Sudduth, Phil Feather, Bev Dahlke-Smith, ON SAXOLOLLAPALOOZA: Eric Marienthal, Sal Lozano, Bob Sheppard, Gene Cipriano, Jay Mason
Strings: Peter Kent, Stefanie Fife, Steve Richards, Cecilia Tsan, Karie Prescott, The Prague Orchestra
Vocalists: Tracy London, Karen Drucker, Robert Vickers, Leslie Delahanty, Larry Walker, John Rosenberg, Patrick Maier, Mike Hatfield
These great musicians have performed on Frank's CDs:
Frank Macchia's BOOGA-BOOGA
Introducing Frankie Maximum
Frankie Maximum Goes Way-er Out West
Little Evil Things Volumes 1-5
The Galapagos Suite
Animals
Mo' Animals
Emotions
Landscapes
Saxolollapalooza

Influences: Billy Strayhorn, John Coltrane, Frank Zappa, Igor Stravinsky, Pat Metheny Group, Bela Bartok, Parliament Funkadelics, Gil Evans, Michael Brecker, Gyorgi Lygeti, Gene Ammons, Don Ellis, Charlie Parker, Tower of Power, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Vaughn-Williams, Brecker Bros., Weather Report, Chris Potter, Miles Davis, John Corigliano, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Hancock, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Ives, Paul Gonsalves, Olivier Messiaen, and of course... James Brown!!
Sounds Like: Butter!!!
Go to my website, frankmacchia.net to download over 60 minutes of FREE MUSIC!!

Record Label: Cacophony Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

SAXOLOLLAPALOOZA CD OUT!

Hey, I totally forgot to mention that my new CD, Saxolollapalooza has been out for about a month now. It's available at my website, frankmacchia.net,  Amazon.com, CDBaby and songs are on iTunes.  It f...
Posted by on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:50:00 GMT

I got nominated for a Grammy! (again!)

I am honored and thrilled to announce I've been nominated once again for a Grammy award in the category of Best Instrumental Arrangement for my interpretation of the traditional folk song "Down In The...
Posted by on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:05:00 GMT

Franks CD "Landscapes" up for Grammy consideration

Hi everybody! It's that time of year again - no, not Halloween!! I'm excited to let you know my CD "Landscapes" is being considered for nomination in the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Once again, I a...
Posted by on Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:18:00 GMT

NEW CD LANDSCAPES NOW OUT! woo-hoo!!

Landscapes, my new CD with The Prague Orchestra is now available on my website www.frankmacchia.net as well as CD Baby and AMAZONIt features a six movement suite "Landscapes" with imaginary destinati...
Posted by on Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Frank’s Music in Park City Film Music Festival

Writer/Director Wade Ballance's short film "The HusBand" has been accepted into the Park City Film Music Festival for January 2008. This prestigious film festival occurs at the same time as the Sundan...
Posted by on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:22:00 GMT

HOLY CRAP! I GOT NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY!!!!

Wow- I just found out I got nominated for a Grammy Award for the Category of Best Arrangement for "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair" which is on the Emotions CD and featured on my myspace pla...
Posted by on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:56:00 GMT

GRAMMY AWARDS- Please vote for me!

Yes, once again I aim to climb to musical mountain called "Grammy", in the ever-confounding quest of one day being nominated for the ever-elusive nomination which will give my life some meaning (sad, ...
Posted by on Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:01:00 GMT

Lots of news!

Whew! It's been a busy couple of weeks as I've been composing music for a short silent film, called "The HusBAND", a comedy about husbands with shock collars. This was written and directed by Wade Bal...
Posted by on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:43:00 GMT

New CD Mixed!!!

I just finished mixing my new CD with the Prague Orchestra, "Landscapes". I'm very excited about the music on this CD and I hope you'll check it out when it's finally out. ETA is late this year or J...
Posted by on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:11:00 GMT

Recording a New CD with the Prague Orchestra!!!

I'll be recording a slew of new music I've composed for solo tenor sax and 40 strings, 8 woodwinds and 2 harps with the Prague Orchestra on May 21-22 2007. This music will include a new six movement ...
Posted by on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:11:00 GMT