(Modern Big Band, Swing, New Orleans second-line, Funk, Latin, World Fusion, Ballads, Folk-Jazz) Frank Macchia (Peter Erskine etc) - Folk Songs for Jazzers (with special guest vocalists Tierney Sutton, Ellis Hall) - 2009, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

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 the day, due to my sick fascination with constantly shifting time signatures. See if you can count this one out during the melody. We start out with Ray on the spoons and a piccolo trio with Jay on bass clarinet. Then the brass get their turn, followed by a crazed and brilliant tenor sax solo by Bob, followed with a twisted plunger trombone solo by Kevin, a truly slippery sax soli and suddenly...a shift back to 1920 and a dixie version of the tune! We emerge from the 20's with an interlude back to the tune with a scream trumpet solo by Wayne, followed by a sensitive tuba ending. Sheesh!!
Did You Ever See a Lassie? was published in 1895 and seems to have Scottish origins. My jazz waltz version harkens the feel of Mingus's "Better Get It In Your Soul" and features solos from Wayne, and Sal, with trombones trading solos (Alex, Kevin and Bill, in order).
The folk song Tom Dooley is based on the murder of Laura Foster, Tom Dula's fiancee. Dula, a Confederate veteran, was hung for her brutal stabbing in 1868. Dula's lover, Anne Melton, was later thought to be the true murderer, especially due to Tom's enigmatic statement on the gallows that he had not killed Foster, but that he should still be punished. I've always found this song slightly disturbing, and yet I wanted to do a treatment of it that was eerie yet beautiful; a meditation on a finite future, yet not totally devoid of hope. I take the alto clarinet solo and Tom plays a poignant piano solo, then a quartet of bass flutes play with a final melodic statement by the brass (flugelhorn and 3 euphoniums).
The Arkansas Traveller was composed in the mid-1800's by Colonel Sanford Faulkner and has primarily been known as a fiddle or banjo tune. I wanted to feature Grant on this one and I changed up and chromaticized (is that a word?!) the melody and put it into a fusion jazz mold. Check out the saxes vs. the brass in the middle and then Bob's wailing tenor sax solo. Peter really kicks this one and the whole rhythm section got jiggy with it!
Amazing Grace. What can I say about this song? It's probably the most covered and recorded tune of all time. There's not enough room in the liner notes to go into the whole story of this song; suffice it to say that although I'm not a religious person, this song has a way of really moving me and I simply wanted to record a version of it with a great singer. I was fortunate to have the incredibly gifted vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ellis Hall, and his performance gives me chills every time I hear it. I used to see Ellis perform with his own band in Boston back in the early 1980's, and I always dreamed of having him sing one of my arrangements. Well, my dream came true and I hope you enjoy this version as much as I do. Bob takes a beautiful sax solo, and along with a preamble horn chorale, we end with a brass quartet with voice.
I wanted to do a feature for the big horns (tuba and bass sax) so I arranged The Erie Canal as a showcase for Bill and Jay. The song was originally known as "Low Bridge, Everybody Down" and was written in 1905 by Thomas Allen after Erie Canal barge traffic was converted from mule to engine power, which raised the speed traffic above fifteen miles per hour!
Hush, Little Baby is thought to be an old American lullaby, as mockingbirds are from the American continent. This arrangement is done as a bossa nova and features Tom on piano and Bill on baritone horn. It also features the reed section on 4 bass clarinets, as well as a four-part fugue before the last melody statement.
Here's some interesting info I got on Blue Tail Fly : it was first performed in the U.S. in the 1840's, as a minstrel song. The lyrics tell of a slave's lament over his master's death, however, there is also irony in that the slave rejoices at his master's death, which may have been caused by negligence! The blue tail fly mentioned is a horse-fly with a blue-black abdomen that feeds on the blood of horses, cattle and humans. Yummy! Our version features Trey on an electric bass solo, Sal on alto sax and Tom on piano.
Kumbaya seems to have come into being in the early 1920's. The spiritual "Come By Yuh" was sung in a creole dialect spoken by the former slaves living on the sea islands of South Carolina and Georgia. It translates to "come by here, my lord". This song in recent years has been used in a satirical context, but I wanted to portray it as a kind of tribute to Coltrane tunes like "Alabama", which I find to be very moving. I play the tenor sax solo and the band did a great job on a very "loose" arrangement!
We end the album with a favorite of mine, On Top of Old Smoky. My research shows that this song may have originated in England in the 16th century. It was sung as a courting song in the Appalachian Mountains. After a wild plunger mute intro by Wayne, Tom takes a few choruses followed by Bob on tenor sax, which leads to the epic guitar solo by Grant that takes us on home.
If you're reading this then you should know that as an owner of the CD you have a bonus track available to you on the website frankmacchia.net. You'll be able to download Joshua Fit the Battle of Jerico, which features Valarie King on bass flutes, myself on bass and contrabass flutes and Ray Frisby on percussion. I arranged this song for 5 bass flutes, 2 contrabass flutes and percussion, and Val and I trade solos on the big flutes!
Personnel:
Frank Macchia - Tenor Sax, Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Contrabass Flute, Clarinet, Alto Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet
Bob Sheppard - Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax, Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Jay Mason - Baritone Sax, Bass Sax, Piccolo, Flute, Bass Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, English Horn
Sal Lozano - Alto Sax, Piccolo, Flute, Bass Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Wayne Bergeron - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Alex Iles - Trombone, Baritone Horn, Tuba
Kevin Porter - Trombone, Bass Trombone, Baritone Horn, Tuba
Bill Reichenbach - Trombone, Bass Trombone, Baritone Horn, Tuba
Tom Ranier - Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano
Grant Geissman - Electric Guitar, Banjo
Trey Henry - Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass
Peter Erskine - Drums, Motivation
Ray Frisby - Vibraphone, Bongos, Tambourine, Shaker, Spoons
Dave Wells - Booth Supervision
Andy Waterman - Recording Engineer
Eric Astor - Protools Engineer
Steve Hull - Photography
Doug Sax - Mastering Engineer
Special Guests:
Tierney Sutton - vocals, "Red River Valley"
Ellis Hall - vocals, "Amazing Grace"
Valarie King - bass flute, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"
Special Thanks: A big thanks to all the people mentioned above for their talent, generosity and patience with me on this project, as well as Andy Waterman for a brilliant job recording all this material Thanks also to Rich Breen for audio guidance and knowledge, Neal Breitbarth, Alex Iles, Dave Wells and Peter Erskine for mix input, Peter Macchia for the album title and CD disc photo, Guy Paonessa at Entourage for a great studio, MOTU for my favorite audio program, all my friends who supported me throughout this project and a special thanks to my wife, Tracy, who sticks with me through thick and thin. And a big hug for my son Charlie!
-- Frank Macchia Dec. 2009

Frank Macchia: Folk Songs for Jazzers (2010)
By DAN MCCLENAGHAN, Published: February 25, 2010
Frank Macchia seems to have a thing about American folk songs—a very good thing. On his Grammy-nominated Landscapes, the Los Angeles-based multi-reedist/composer/arranger teamed up with The Prague Orchestra and bookended his superb "Landscape Suite" with traditional tunes like "Shenandoah," "Down in the Valley," and "Deep River," with marvelous results.
On Folk Songs for Jazzers, Macchia and his thirteen-piece band jazzes up some seemingly unlikely traditional tunes like "Blue Tail Fly," "I've Been Working on the Railroad," Skip to My Lou," and even that old campfire sing-along "Kumbaya."
All that may sound like a surefire recipe for some serious un-hipness, but Macchia and company are inspired re-inventors, giving "Oh Susanna" a very cool Gil Evans feeling on the harmonies to go with a series of trombone and reed solos that, with improvisational élan, take the tune somewhere else altogether; the essence jazz.
"Skip to My Lou"—probably not recognizable on casual listen—is jazzed up hot with a Latin tinge featuring a bird song piccolo solo that weaves around the swirling reeds, followed by a saucy trumpet turn in front of some beefy horn accompaniment. "Kumbaya" opens with Macchia's hearty tenor solo and a loose-limbed, rumbling, brass-heavy accompaniment. It seems like an unusual choice for a jazz treatment, but Macchia and the band give it grit, and a foreboding feeling of oncoming calamity. This heard around the camp fire would conjure images of dangerous things lurking out there in the dark.
Vocalist Tierney Sutton sits in on "Red River Valley" with her clear, clean intonation and a feeling of haunted melancholy, as she scats in front of waxing/waning reeds, giving way to a bluesy guitar solo. "Amazing Grace" features Ellis Hall's soulfully uplifting vocal in front of an ethereal reed harmony and Bob Sheppard's heart-felt tenor sax solo injected with Hall's scat comping.
Once again, Frank Macchia has modernized a set of traditional tunes, jazzing them up with sass and beauty into a new millennium.
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Frank Macchia: Folk Songs for Jazzers (2010)
By EDWARD BLANCO, Published: March 6, 2010
Never the conventionalist when it comes to music, Grammy-nominated composer/arranger and saxophonist Frank Macchia develops another theme album, this time reinterpreting time-honored traditional American folk songs in another innovative frame of jazz on Folk Songs for Jazzers. With a history of releasing concept albums like the saxophone-heavy Saxolollapalooza (Cacophony, 2008), the Third Stream-tinged classical jazz Landscapes(Cacophony, 2007), the orchestral Emotions (Cacophony, 2006), and the previous Animal series recordings, Macchia once again summons his creative juices in recording some classic American folk songs, which he has always loved, casting them in an entirely new light.
The amazing jazzed-up orchestrations of fourteen standard folk songs, re-energized and reinterpreted like never before, are a testament to the arranging skills of this two-time Grammy nominee. In another example of his unconventional approach to music, Macchia chose to use a big band for this project but eschews the normal four trumpet, four trombone, and five sax sections in favor of several multi-woodwind players and a standard rhythm section augmented by vibes on several selections. The thirteen-piece band assembled for this disc features some of Los Angeles' best jazz musicians, among them Wayne Bergeron,Bob Sheppard, Bill Reichenbach, Peter Erskine, Grant Geissman, and Tom Rainer.
Vocalist Tierney Sutton graces the set voicing a soft, humbling rendition of "Red River Valley," while the other vocalist to appear here is Ellis Hall, singing an uplifting version of the somber "Amazing Grace" buoyed by Sheppard's tender tenor solo. With a variety of styles included in the lengthy repertoire, the ballad-like pieces are among the best, beginning with the cool swing rendition of Stephen Foster's familiar "Oh Susanna" and continuing with the spacious "Tom Dooley" with Macchia on a spirited alto clarinet solo as pianist Rainer takes a poignant piano solo. "Hush, Little Baby," an old American lullaby, is arranged here with a bossa nova tinge, featuring the trombone voice of Reichenbach and Rainer playing against the backdrop of four bass clarinets.
The vast majority of the music is presented in more of an up beat and livelier fashion beginning with the opening "I've Been Working on the Railroad" hovering in funky territory and quite electric in texture. "Skip to My Lou" is almost unrecognizable, performed with a Latin flavor and a lot of piccolo sounds while "The Arkansas Traveller" comes across as an in-your-face, boisterous, loud number where guitarist Geissman plays like he's performing in hard rock band. There are many highlights on Folk Songs for Jazzers not to be missed as Frank Macchia crafts another unique non-traditional session of interesting jazz music albeit from the foundation of American folk music.

“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.

Instrumentally, this 13-piece ensemble is anything but traditional. Macchia uses four multi-woodwind players, a trumpet, three trombones (who sometimes double on tuba and euphonium) and the standard rhythm section. That instrumentation and the leader’s tasteful writing, which often recalls Gil Evans, help make this project a very special one. Highlights abound, especially “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” which permutates rhythmically from New Orleans second-line to 5/4 and mambo before returning to the second-line rhythm. Vocalist Tierney Sutton guests on an emotional “Red River Valley,” and singer Ellis Hall performs a remarkable version of “Amazing Grace.” The soloists, representing the cream of the West Coast crop, are consistently first-rate, particularly reedman Sal Lozano and trumpeter Wayne Bergeron. Special credit must be given to drummer Peter Erskine, who plays this difficult music with ease and grace. I’ve rarely heard him play better than this.

Review by Ken Dryden
Entire jazz albums devoted to folk songs are rare, though many of the songs within Frank Macchia's CD have been recorded by jazz bands at one time or another. But Macchia succeeds because the multi-reed player puts his own stamp on these familiar melodies with imaginative charts that keep the listener guessing. A perfect example is the opening track, "I've Been Working on the Railroad," which has stops in swing, Latin, and New Orleans, all with playful solos and tight ensemble work. The cool-toned setting of "Oh! Susanna" sounds straight out of the '50s, with rich writing for reeds and brass. Perhaps the most startling piece is the fusion rendition of "The Arkansas Traveler" utilizing electric keyboards, guitar, and bass in a big, brassy, in-your-face manner. Macchia transforms "Erie Canal" into a funky vehicle for Bill Reichenbach on tuba, while vocalist Tierney Sutton is added for "Red River Valley" with Grant Geissman's jarring electric guitar providing contrast in the background. There's never a dull moment in Frank Macchia's arrangements of these well-known tunes, and there remains a wealth of traditional folk melodies that are ripe for his future experiments.

Editorial Reviews:
Frank Macchia and his 13 piece band of incredible Los Angeles jazz stars deliver innovative versions of classic American folk songs. Folk Songs for Jazzers features two time Grammy nominee Macchia's wild arrangements that run the gamut of swing, funk, New Orleans second-line, latin-jazz, fusion and ballads, featuring such jazz greats as Peter Erskine, Grant Geissman, Wayne Bergeron, Tom Ranier, Bob Sheppard, and Bill Reichenbach as well as guest vocalists Tierney Sutton and Ellis Hall.
Jazziz Magazine says of Macchia, "an inventive composer and arranger who deserves comparisons to Gil Evans and Pat Metheny". He has composed and orchestrated on numerous films and television shows, and was the recipient of a National Endowment Grant for the Arts. Macchia, who produced the project is featured on a wide array of woodwinds, from the piccolo to contrabass flute, tenor saxophone and clarinets.
Customer Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars - A Wild and Wooly Musical Journey from Frank Macchia - May 4, 2010
By: Eric Jensen
You have probably heard Frank Macchia's handiwork without knowing it. He has had an extensive career orchestrating and composing for major Hollywood movies and television shows. Despite this challenging schedule he has found the time to produce and record 16 remarkably diverse albums of his own music and been nominated for two Grammy awards. The latest installment in Frank's catalog is Folk Songs For Jazzers, a humorous, iconoclastic, and virtuosic collection of tunes performed by some of the best musicians in the world.
Macchia has a wide range of musical interests, from Duke Ellington, Carl Stalling, Gyorgio Ligeti, Claus Ogerman, the theatrics of Frank Zappa, The Meters, Tower of Power, Weather Report, Cajun music, Jimi Hendrix, the post-Coltrane tenor players, and the masters of film music and twentieth century classical composition. He has a particular interest in the most fundamental streams of Americana; folk and cowboy songs, Stephen Foster, hymns...the simple, emotionally direct melodies and harmonies we all absorbed as children.
The idea for this project was to use folk songs, part of the collective musical unconscious, as anchors for his exciting, challenging and humorous explorations. Each of these tracks takes the listener on a seemingly impossible musical journey through deep grooves, monster licks, odd meters, dream sequences, lush orchestrations, and killer solos....and he makes it all work with aplomb and a sly sense of humor. Listening to one of these tracks is akin to reading an entire novel. Each arrangement is remarkably deep and the musical surprises never stop.
This album includes two fantastic vocal arrangements, Red River Valley, featuring singer Tierney Sutton, and a gorgeous version of Amazing Grace with vocals by Ellis Hall. Macchia has assembled a cast of some of the best musicians in Los Angeles. Very few players could pull of a project like this with so much soul and groove. The solos are burning and drummer Peter Erskine drives the A-List rhythm section like a Tesla Roadster.
I heartily recommend this extraordinary release. You won't be disappointed. On top of all the great musicianship it's just a whole lot of fun. I can promise you that you haven't heard anything quite like Folk Songs for Jazzers before...
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4.0 out of 5 stars - Brings Back Memories in a New Way - August 18, 2010
By: TellItLikeItIs
This is an interesting collection. Lots of songs, and lots of them from the 30s and 40s, but with a jazz upbeat. Red River Valley with Tierney Sutton is spectacular. I wish there were more vocals, but there really is a whole lot of variety there.