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"FOLK SONGS FOR JAZZERS...& EVERYONE ELSE!" This CD has just received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement (Skip To My Lou)!!! Grammy nominated composer/arranger Frank Macchia has reinterpreted traditional American folk songs and used his crazed imagination to create Folk Songs for Jazzers. The CD features a top-notch cast of Los Angeles best musicians, including Peter Erskine, Grant Geissman, Bob Sheppard, Wayne Bergeron, Bill Reichenbach, Tom Ranier and also features Grammy nominated vocalists Tierney Sutton and Ellis Hall. Macchia arranged and produced the CD, an eclectic mix of varied genres such as New Orleans second line, samba, funk, swing and ballads. Says Jazziz Magazine of Macchia, "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, the Tonight Show Band and composed and orchestrated on numerous films and television shows. He received Grammy nominations in 2007 and 2008 for his arrangements from his CDs Emotions and Landscapes. Album liner notes: I've always loved folk songs. Nothing is so simple yet so powerful. Whether evoking childhood memories or messages of hope, love or loss, they are part of our collective unconscious. They achieve this resonance through their strong melodies and simple chord progressions -- perfect starting points for manic re-construction! I rejected the traditional big band section of 4 trumpets, 4 trombones and 5 saxes because I wanted a more intimate setting. Instead I chose 4 multi-woodwind players, 1 trumpet, 3 trombones (doubling on euphoniums and tubas) and the standard rhythm section, enhanced with vibes on several numbers. The band was a dream ensemble: master improvisers as well as amazing readers. You wouldn't believe how fast they nailed this material, which is the hardest stuff I've written in quite a while! I've Been Working On the Railroad was originally published in 1894 as 'Levee Song'. I wanted to do a series of styles over the different sections of the tune. We start with Peter's drum-slamming intro and go into a dream sequence repleat with tuba trio melody, which segues into fast swing, a 5/4 mambo, a stripper-shuffle, and finally settles into a good old fashioned New Orleans second line groove. If you have listened to any of my other CDs, you know I'm a big fan of this groove! Bob Sheppard plays an absolutely incredible solo on the vamp, taking the melody through many contortions before we modulate into an Ellington-voiced final melody, with a 'train-chugging-off-in-the-distance' ending. Red River Valley features Tierney Sutton's hauntingly beautiful rendition of this song, which dates to the 1880's and is about the Canadian Red River Valley in Manitoba. It tells of a woman expressing her sorrow over her lover going back to Ontario. Tierney takes a great scat solo and Grant does a bluesy guitar solo. There's also a fun little woodwind and voice soli that includes flute, alto flute, clarinet, English horn and vibes. Next comes a latin-tinged version of Skip to My Lou. This song was originally a partner-stealing dance from the American frontier period. Our version features all the woodwind players trading solos on piccolo, culminating in a piccolo soli with vibes. The piccolo solo order is Sal, Bob, me and Jay. Following that is an insane trombone/bass soli and then Wayne wails forth on trumpet. Oh! Susanna was composed by Stephen Foster in 1848 and was associated with the California Gold Rush. This version is done as cool swing with lots of re-harmonization in an attempt to channel the voicing style of Gil Evans! Alex has the trombone solo, then a woodwind soli of soprano sax (Bob) lead with clarinet, alto clarinet and bass clarinet, which segues into a piano solo by Tom. After a two part counterline band soli we re-state the hook and take it home. The next tune, Polly Wolly Doodle, was probably the most difficult of
