Last Call Review: Frank Macchia's Swamp Thang / frankmacchia.net

KIOS | By Chris Cooke

Published February 10, 2012 at 5:01 PM CST

Sure to warm up even the coldest of winter nights, the latest disc by Frank Macchia is a pleasure. Swamp Thang presents a band of the same name lead by Grammy Nominated Compser Macchia. Wild groove music with crazy chromatic melodies come together with a dose of Cajun and a dash of humor. The Swamp Thang band, led by Frank Macchia on saxophone, features John Rosenberg on piano, organ and keyboards, Ken Rosser and Eric Jensen on electric guitars, Tom Lockett on electric bass and Frank Briggs on drums and percussion. The recording als presents special guests Alex Iles on trombone and the brilliant trumpeter Wayne Bergeron. Comprised of 12 all new tunes by Frank Macchia, the result is a groove that is hard to resist, contrasted by blistering guitar & horn work on the title track .

Chris Cooke

Chris Cooke has been a voice on radio in Omaha since 1988. While at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he studied radio broadcasting, history and religion. Working at KVNO-FM, Cooke hosted a weekend adventuresome jazz show on the station in addition to duties as an on-air announcer on overnights, weekends and holidays. He also worked at KBLZ (the then student-run radio station) as well as KYNE-TV, and The Gateway as a reporter.
In November 1992, Cooke signed on at KIOS-FM and has been there ever since. He has hosted the Tuesday and Thursday editions of Jazz in the Afternoon since 1996 and has also hosted Last Call since that year. A long time fan of jazz music, Cooke enjoys talking with the musicians who make jazz music. He has interviewed Horace Silver, Roy Haynes, Wayne Shorter, David Liebman, Airto Moreira, Jessica Williams and Karrin Allyson, to name a few. While not at the station Cooke maintains a web design consultancy business that has served a number of non-profit and music clients for over 20 years.

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