Featuring the Prague Orchestra conducted by Adam Klemens

Another grammy nomination for Frank!

Frank Macchia has been nominated once again for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his interpretation of "Down In The Valley" from his Landscapes CD. Voting begins on Dec. 17th, so if you're a voting NARAS member we hope you'll listen to the song and consider voting for it.

Available Now!

Orchestral jazz with saxophone improvisations, Landscapes takes you on a sonic travelogue around the world. Composed and arranged by Frank Macchia, the music is performed by the Prague Orchestra and conducted by Adam Klemens.

The CD focuses on an original six movement suite for orchestra and sax called “The Landscapes Suite” that features imaginary destinations across the globe. Other music on the CD includes modern arrangements of folk songs such as “The Sidewalks of New York”, “Shenandoah”, “Deep River”, “Down In The Valley” and “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans”. Landscapes is the follow up to the critically acclaimed Emotions CD, which received a Blue Chip Award by noted jazz journalist Dr. Herb Wong.

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.

CREDITS

All Music Composed and/or Arranged by Frank Macchia

©2007 Frank Macchia and Cacophony, Inc., Burbank, CA.
Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws,

REVIEWS

Jazz Improv Review

Review of Frank Macchia - Landscapes - Cacophony Inc.
Vol. 8, No. 1 Spring 2008 - Mark Lomanno

In Landscapes, Frank Macchia offers listeners a truly rare experience: an opportunity not only to hear his individual voice, but his entire sonic mentality. Macchia, an experienced and highly regarded film composer, follows his innovative album, Emotions, with a second recording for jazz saxophone and orchestra, featuring the Prague Orchestra under the direction of Adam Klemens. Macchia’s six movement Landscapes Suite is framed by two sets of three American “folk” songs artfully reinterpreted. And, although the whole album is informed by notions of folk and naturalistic culture, Macchia does not resort to recapitulating tropes of Americana or of the tone poems and nationalist musics of the European Romantic era. Rather, we are treated to his unique harmonic and formal reconstruction of these pieces. Also, because Macchia is both composer and featured soloist, a sense of unity pervades each track: there is no idiomatic awkwardness in these performances, as can sometimes happen when a jazz musician records “with strings.”

“The Sidewalks of New York” serves as the entrée into Macchia’s world. Underlying the melody, stated by the tenor saxophone and supported by the string section, is a dense, polyphonic woodwind counterpoint. The successful juxtaposition of these two seemingly disparate musical ideas is a hallmark of Macchia’s composition style.

The Landscapes Suite for Saxophone and Orchestra is the cornerstone of this album. In it Macchia brings to bear his critically acclaimed film scoring experience. There is a rich tradition of orchestral program music that predates the world of motion pictures. In fact, for centuries composers in the Western European tradition have employed program music to evokes images or narratives – a stylistic predecessor to today’s film industry. Without employing clichés or insipid compositional effects, Macchia effectively evokes the varying imagery of each of his six scenes. For its use of dumbek and 7/8 meter, “Desert Heat” summons rich, Orientalist imagery. “Arctic Chill” is noteworthy for Macchia’s exceptional improvisation, which floats over a haunting, impressionistic palette of unsettling harmonies. One hears in this piece suggestions of Macchia’s scores for horror films. The frenetic movement of “Jungle Life” suggests a meeting of Stravinsky’s primitivism and Gershwin’s blues-inflected orchestral work.

For its skilled composition and integrity of vision, Frank Macchia’s Landscapes is a formidable contribution to the “Third Stream” canon. For the sheer scope of the work, Macchia deserves great credit. That the music is of exceptional quality is surely to his audience’s benefit. Neither kitsch Americana nor melodramatic program music, Landscapes succeeds masterfully in its inventiveness, cohesion, and musicality.

DownBeat Review

June 2008 - John Ephland

On Landscapes, tenor saxophonist, Frank Macchia, works closely with the Prague Orchestra. Half of the 12 tracks make up his “Landscapes Suite,” while the rest are public domain traditionals like “Down in the Valley,” “Deep River” and “Avalon.” Macchia’s arrangements steer the music in dream directions, as with “Shenandoah,” where his soft, yet muscular tenor floats above the familiar melody. Macchia’s suite blends seamlessly with the rest of the program, incorporating elements of world music and classical while remaining folksy.

All About Jazz.com

by Dan McClenaghan

Listening to the opening notes on Frank Macchia's Landscapes, one can't help but hear a Stan Getz vibe blowing into play. It's not the Getz of the bossa nova sounds with Antonio Carlos Jobim, or his boppish mainstream work, but rather the Stan Getz of Focus (Verve Records, 1961), with the tenor saxophonist improvising over a string section.

While Focus teamed Getz with composer/arranger Eddie Sauter's tunes and charts, Landscapes features tenor saxophonist Frank Macchia blowing beautiful improvisations in front of his own arrangements—with a smooth, Getzian tone—joined by the woodwinds, strings and harps of the Prague Orchestra, conducted by Adam Klemens.

Macchia chose traditional or public domain tunes to open and close the set—three before and three after his six-part “Landscapes Suite: for Saxophone and Orchestra.” The results stand with the very best of past “with strings” jazz outings: alto saxophonist Art Pepper's Winter Moon (Galaxy, 1981); trumpeter Chet Baker's Chet Baker & Strings (Columbia Records, 1954); trumpeter Wallace Roney's under-appreciated Misteriosos (Warner Brother, 1994); and, of course, Charlie Parker's Charlie Parker With Strings (Verve, 1952).

Macchia's choices of traditional and public domain tunes are unusual: “The Sidewalks of New York,” “Shenandoah” and “Down in the Valley” to start, with “Deep River,” “Avalon,” and “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” closing the show. The arranger's new charts for these old gems shines them up and has all the facets flashing in a modern light, while his masterful “Landscape Suite” has an expansive, intricately lush and lovely atmosphere.

The jazz and strings combination seems to be a love it or hate it affair. For those listeners who have dug their heels in against the genre, Landscapes probably won't change their minds, though it should. Art Pepper said, of his Winter Moon “...if somebody doesn't like it...well, they don't know what to listen for.”

The jazz and strings combination seems to be a love it or hate it affair. For those listeners who have dug their heels in against the genre, Landscapes probably won't change their minds, though it should. Art Pepper said, of his Winter Moon “...if somebody doesn't like it...well, they don't know what to listen for.”

The same could be said for Landscapes, an excellent saxophone and strings affair.

The Musicians' Ombudsman

by George W. Carroll

Here's where the jazz idiom meets the classical & lives happily ever after.........Viably & gainfully I might add! Veteran sax jazzer, Berklee College alum, & consummate arranger Frank Macchia takes on tin pan alley a little, & succeeds in re-inventing the American Songbook with a magic touch. Macchia's charts & the Prague Orchestra never sounded better, & Machia's tenor sax delivery becomes a great adjunct to his arranging prowess for the group. Frank can negotiate horn lines with a suave panache.........His improvisations are an elegant exercise in harmonic quintessence.........His playing, always poised with grace & gentility. This is a true project in the art of musical craft as it were.

All About Jazz.com

by Edward Blanco

A follow-up to composer/arranger/saxophonist Frank Macchia's critically acclaimed Emotions (Cacophony, 2006), which received a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement (Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair), Landscapes is the second part of an extended session of symphonic music cleverly diced with strong jazzy overtones. As with the first album, Macchia employs the string-laden Prague Orchestra, under the direction of Adam Klemens, to provide lush arrangements that feature the soft tenor saxophone voice without a conventional rhythm section.

Spending the last fifteen years in Los Angeles orchestrating and composing for movies, and specifically writing for strings, woodwinds and harps in place of the standard piano rhythm section, Macchia utilizes those skills on this concept recording. On Landscapes the saxophonist pens his version of six folk songs and standards around the six-part centerpiece of the album, "Landscape Suite—for Saxophone & Orchestra", that feature solid tenor solos fronting a string symphony.

The music takes off with a re-harmonized and string-heavy rendition of "The Sidewalks Of New York", followed by the softer "Shenandoah" and "Down In The Valley," in which Macchia solos brilliantly. From here the music turns to the six-part suite for saxophone and orchestra, the main theme of the recording.

With titles such as "Golden Fields", "Desert Heat","Arctic Chill" and "Forest Twilight", each part of the suite is designed to convey a different feeling and emotion. Whether it's the loneliness and isolation of "Arctic Chill" or a stream-of-consciousness as is supposed to be imagined on "River Rapids", the music is meant to be thought-provoking, and not just relaxing.

Landscapes is an encore performance that continues the musical exploration Macchia began with Emotions.. Contributing innovative arrangements, Macchia wraps the jazzy sounds of the tenor saxophone with a blanket of lush orchestral music to produce a unique classical jazz project.

Audiophile Audition.com

Review of Frank Macchia - Landscapes - Cacophony Inc.
Published on December 28, 2007 - John Henry

Frank Macchia - Landscapes - Cacophony Inc. FMC512 [www.frankmacchia.net], 60:18 ***** [release date: Jan. 15, 2008]:
(Frank Macchia, tenor sax; The Prague Orchestra/Adam Klemens, cond.)

A successor to Stan Getz's "Focus"

Frank is an LA-based composer/arranger/saxist whose previous CD Emotions got a Grammy nomination earlier this year. That album for sax and strings was compared to Stan Getz’s classic Focus as well as Gil Evans and Pat Metheny. In addition to tenor sax, Macchia also is heard on bass flute, ethnic winds and synthesizers. He has composed and orchestrated many film and TV shows, and has worked with Van Dyke Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, Brian Wilson and Clare Fisher.

At the center of this dozen-track album is Macchia’s Landscapes Suite for sax and orchestra, consisting of six picturesque movements. Each one strives to create a different mental picture in keeping with its title. River Rapids, for example, depicts with strong forward thrust thru all 12 keys the churning, white water rapids. Three traditional tunes are given the Macchia treatment in the album. His arrangement of Shenandoah - long one of my personal favorite folk tunes - is one of the most satisfying I have every heard. Down in the Valley and Deep River receive similar highly individual treatments. The musician’s idea of combining these traditional folk songs with orchestra plus improvisation is a fresh and most enjoyable effort. Since Getz’s Focus is my favorite all-around jazz album, Landscapes will surely get a lot of playing in future.

TrackList: The Sidewalks of New York; Shenandoah, Down in the Valley, Landscapes Suite: Golden Field, Desert Heat, River Rapids, Arctic Chill, Jungle Life, Forest Twilight; Deep River; Avalon; Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.

CD Liner Notes

Scott Yanow - Author of Bebop, Trumpet Kings, Jazz On Record 1917-76, Jazz On Film and more.

In 2006, tenor-saxophonist, arranger and composer Frank Macchia teamed up with the Prague Orchestra to record Emotions, an unusual and brilliant set that includes originals, folk songs and the four-part “Emotions – Suite for Saxophone & Strings.” Landscapes is an encore that builds upon the earlier innovations while taking the music even further.

“The idea for Emotions and now Landscapes was to perform jazz without a conventional rhythm section,” remembers Frank Macchia. “I looked back towards a couple of earlier recordings that featured saxophone with strings: Keith Jarrett/Jan Garbarek’s Luminessence and Stan Getz’s Focus for inspiration” One of the main differences between Landscapes and Focus is that, rather than featuring a tenor-saxophonist performing over the arrangements of a masterful writer (Eddie Sauter), in this case Macchia is both the soloist and the arranger-composer, excelling in both areas.

Landscapes has Frank Macchia’s versions of six folk songs and standards plus the six-part “Landscapes Suite,” performed with the Prague Orchestra conducted by Adam Klemens. All of the titles portray places and destinations. “I have spent the past 15 years in Los Angeles orchestrating and writing for films, so I wanted to utilize those skills to write for strings, woodwinds and two harps in place of a piano and rhythm section.” Macchia’s writing is strikingly original, owing no obvious debts to his predecessors.

The program begins with “The Sidewalks Of New York” in a modernized and reharmonized waltz version that reflects New York’s sidewalks of today along with its place as the Mecca of jazz. As is true of the other traditional songs, the melody is kept just beneath the surface even as the chords, rhythms and contexts are drastically changed to create a new piece of music that gives listeners a very fresh look at the standard. Note Macchia’s quote of “Manhattan” near the conclusion. “Shenandoah” is a spectacular jazz tone poem that builds up gradually to an intense level, both in the tenor solo and the stimulating and radically reharmonized accompaniment. The development is completely unpredictable but ultimately logical. The down home theme of “Down In The Valley” is given the hint of Miles Davis’ “All Blues” in its bass line but retains the familiar melody even while featuring Macchia’s tenor at its most passionate. The results are both esoteric and quite accessible, an unusual combination.

The Landscapes Suite consists of six picturesque originals that cover a great deal of ground (excuse the pun). “Golden Fields” has an open John Coltrane "Naima” atmosphere, giving one the feeling of space behind Macchia’s wistful tenor. “Desert Heat,” which is in 7/8 time and uses a Mid-Eastern scale, conjures up the image of walking in the middle of the Sahara Desert with Macchia finding surprising joy in the situation. “River Rapids,” one of the most exciting numbers on the set, is described by Macchia as “a very long stream of consciousness quality, depicting churning, white water rapids. It cycles through all 12 keys until it eventually reaches the end of the rapids, with calmer waters.” One feels constant forward movement throughout this stimulating piece. “Arctic Chill” succeeds in being quite icy. It has a completely improvised sax solo and conveys the loneliness and isolation of the arctic in its writing. “Jungle Life” is a major contrast in moods for it is rhythmic and celebratory, full of the activity of the jungle with its wide variety of creatures. Macchia takes a particularly bluesy solo over the dense and exciting ensembles. In comparison “Forest Twilight,” which is in 10/8 time, is relatively mellow, summing up the long adventure in a quiet but passionate manner.

Landscapes concludes with three familiar themes. The spiritual “Deep River” develops a soulful groove during its second half despite the lack of a rhythm section. The swing standard “Avalon” is modernized and played as a short and fast number, swinging despite the unusual instrumentation. “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans,” usually an up-tempo happy tune, is performed as a slow and solemn piece to reflect post-Katrina New Orleans.

A composer and/or orchestrator for a countless number of films and television projects, Frank Macchia considers jazz composition and improvisation to be his real loves. His past recordings include the Galapagos Suite (which features Billy Childs and Grant Geissman) and Animals and Mo’ Animals (“those two CDs are a tribute to the fusion music that I really loved in the 1970s”) before his success with Emotions and Landscapes. On the latter two CDs, Frank Macchia has created innovative new music (even when exploring vintage themes), his solo work is consistently impressive and he has carved out a new chapter in Third Stream music.

“I’ve always been interested in combining different types of music with improvisation, and I can see performing the traditional folk songs live with orchestras in the future,” says the saxophonist-composer. “For the future I just want to get better and better as an improviser while exploring fresh harmonies and melodies in my writing.”

Landscapes is a major new release, one that will sound fresh and vital decades from now.