Frank Macchia(I)

Born and raised in San Francisco, California, 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 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, 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, 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 folk songs, 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 an orchestrator on many films and television projects, including, Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean, X2-Xmen United, Men of Honor, Eight Legged Freaks, Ghosts of the Abyss, Austin Powers: Goldmember, The Contender, The Apt Pupil, Santa Clause 2, and composed for television shows Night Visions, Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah Cartoons, America's Funniest Home Videos, and the Tonight Show. He attended the prestigious Sundance Composers Lab in 2004. From 1997-2000 he created a series of audio CD horror stories entitled "Little Evil Things" which received numerous awards including one from Publishers Weekly. In 2001 he began a series of original jazz CDs starting with "The Galapagos Suite", "Animals", Mo' Animals", "Emotions", "Landscapes", and "Saxolollapalooza". He received Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the "Emotions" and "Landscapes" CDs, for the songs "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair", and "Down In the Valley". He also received a Grammy nomination in 2010 for Best Instrumental Arrangement of "Skip to my Lou" from his CD, "Folk Songs for Jazzers". He released a follow up to that CD "SON of Folk Songs for Jazzers" in 2011. He lives in Burbank, California with his wife Tracy and son Charlie.