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Matt Savage

Matt Savage, age 28, has had a remarkable 19-year professional career as a jazz musician, bandleader and composer with ensembles of different size. He’s played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Chick Corea, the Ellington All Stars, Chaka Khan, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Arturo O’Farrill, John Pizzarelli, Joshua Redman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi and Donny McCaslin among others. He’s also opened for rock legends Neil Young and Stephen Stills, and has performed with Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin and Al Stewart. Along the way, he’s recorded twelve albums as leader and one as collaborator. He is a Bösendorfer piano artist.

As a composer, Matt has garnered respect and recognition. He composed and recorded the score for a full-length documentary film, Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story. The movie, which premiered in 2014, chronicles the life of the late jazz alto saxophonist Frank Morgan. Additionally, Savage wrote almost all the songs on his twelve albums, several of which have been used in short documentaries, on web sites, in school music curricula and in government educational materials.

Matt’s latest project is the Matt Savage Groove Experiment’s debut EP, Splash Variations. Splash Variations was released on December 7, 2018, and it was accompanied by a CD release tour in early 2019.

Savage has toured worldwide, including performances at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Blue Note (NYC), Bohemian Caverns, Smalls Jazz Club, The Town Hall, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Scullers, the Jazz Standard, the Pantages Theatre, the Iridium, the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, Heineken Jazzaldia (Spain), the Costa Rica International Jazz Festival, the International VSA Arts Festival, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the Earshot Jazz Festival, tours of Japan, China, India, Spain, Curacao, Aruba and Singapore.

Media appearances have included Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” the “Today” Show, ABC’s “20/20,” the Discovery Channel, BBC, Telemundo TV, and news shows and documentaries worldwide (including the U.S., Germany, France, Japan and the U.K.) The Wall Street Journal, JazzTimes, JAZZIZ, TIME, WIRED, Der Spiegel, The Jerusalem Report, People Magazine, TIME for Kids, American Way, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Boston Globe, the New York Daily News, and others have featured Matt in print.

Having received his Bachelor’s Degree from Berklee College of Music and his Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music, Matt balances his professional music career with teaching.

Matt Savage Groove Experiment: Splash Variations

Read "Splash Variations" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 9, 2019

Matt Savage, a young man who knows his way around a keyboard (a child prodigy, he recorded his first album, Live at the Olde Mill, when he was barely nine years old), has added a new twist, namely soul / funk, to Splash Variations, the thirteenth recording under his name and first as leader of the Matt Savage Groove Experiment. Variations, which comprises half a dozen songs (five written by Savage) and runs for thirty-eight minutes, is labeled an EP ...

Album Review

Matt Savage: A Bigger Celebration

Read "A Bigger Celebration" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 14, 2013

Pianist / composer Matt Savage's career has been on an upward curve since he recorded his first album--before his tenth birthday! Now twenty-one and a recent graduate of Boston's Berklee School of Music, Savage and his trio have released their tenth album, A Bigger Celebration, this one employing the services of some heavy-swinging guest artists including the celebrated tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. A child prodigy? Without a doubt. A remarkably talented jazz musician? Ditto. Diagnosed at age ...

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Album Review

Matt Savage: Welcome Home

Read "Welcome Home" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 7, 2010

Pianist Matt Savage, a child prodigy if ever there was one, recorded his first album as leader of the Matt Savage Trio (with adult rhythm section) when he was nine years old (he'd recorded for the first time at age seven while studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston). In 2004, when he was twelve, Matt received his first ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award for his composition “The Wild Rose" (from the CD Cutting Loose). Later, he received the ...

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Album Review

The Matt Savage Trio: Quantum Leap

Read "Quantum Leap" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone

by Michael P. Gladstone
December 8, 2006

The life story of fourteen-year-old Matt Savage is surely a television movie in the making. While millions of Americans already know about this young musician because of his exposure in national magazines and media interviews (e.g. People magazine, The Today Show, 20/20, etc.) there are still more people who would be fascinated by Savage's journey.

Diagnosed at age three with a form of autism, Savage underwent intensive training so that by the age of six, he was able ...

Recording

Jazz Recording Artist Matt Savage Releases Summer Single - "Go On" - July 24th

Source: McMullen & Company Public Relations
July 24, 2015

Matt Savage, Jazz recording artist, pianist and composer, is releasing Go On as a summer single on Friday, July 24th. Recorded at Avatar Studios in jny: New York City, Go On is a catchy jazz-fusion tune featuring Matt Savage on both piano and electric keyboard, with Brandon Wright (tenor saxophone), Tom Berkmann (bass) and Richie Barshay (drums). Go On will be available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Matt just graduated from Manhattan School of Music, earning his Master ...
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Event

Bobby Watson, Joris Teepe and Peter Retzlaff join Matt Savage for Concert at Dizzy's Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, February 21st

Source: Sarah McMullen
February 16, 2011

New York, NY—Jazz composer and pianist Matt Savage will celebrate the release of his new album, Welcome Home, with a concert at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Monday, February 21st. He will be joined by three of the guest musicians featured on the CD— sax great Bobby Watson, bassist Joris Teepe, and drummer Peter Retzlaff. Welcome Home peaked at #18 on JazzWeek's radio airplay chart and is currently #5 on the CMJ Jazz ...
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Festival

Cachaca Jazz 'N' Samba Club Presents the Matt Savage Trio

Source: All About Jazz
October 13, 2008

The Matt Savage Trio, helmed by Jazz piano phenomenon, Matt Savage, will make their first appearance at the Cachaca Jazz 'n' Samba Club on Friday, October 17th and Saturday, October 18th. One of the most popular new additions to the New York Jazz scene, Cachaca is located in Greenwich Village at 35 West 8th Avenue between 5th and 6th. Matt Savage will be joined by Trio sidemen, David Robaire on bass and Joe Saylor on drums. Their set will include ...
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Performance / Tour

Hot Jazz Cool Cause: Matt Savage at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on Saturday, May 10 at 8PM

Source: All About Jazz
May 7, 2008

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Event

Matt Savage Trio: Young Jazz Phenom Sept. 30 in Rochester, New Hampshire Benefit Concert

Source: All About Jazz
June 28, 2006

The Monarch School of New England is proud to present The Matt Savage Trio in concert at the Rochester Opera House in Rochester NH on September 30 at 7:30. Tickets are $22 (seniors of 60 and children under 12 are $12). All proceeds support the Monarch School.

The Matt Savage Trio has a new release due on September 19. Quantum Leap is the Trio's first album through a world-wide distribution deal with Palmetto Records.

The Matt Savage Trio features Matt ...
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Event

Matt Savage Trio in Concert May 20 in West Palm Beach

Source: All About Jazz
April 14, 2006

Jazz legend Dave Brubeck calls him “amazing." Chick Corea says he's “delightful and inspiring." Sax legend Jimmy Heath calls him “the future of jazz." His talent has been compared to that of Bach and Mozart.

You can hear what all the fuss is about on May 20, as 13-year-old jazz prodigy Matt Savage performs in a benefit concert to help support arts education and outreach programs in Palm Beach County. Wellington-based non-profit ArtStart is proud to present The Matt Savage ...
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Recording

The Matt Savage Trio releases new CD and has Birdland release concert

Source: All About Jazz
September 25, 2004

Performance / Tour

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra to Perform with Special Guest, Jazz Pianist Matt Savage

Source: All About Jazz
September 3, 2008

WHO: The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra with Matt Savage

WHERE: Regattabar, Charles Hotel Cambridge, MA Reservations:617.395.7757

WHEN: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 7:30 pm

COST: $16.

Personnel: Arni Cheatham, Peter Bloom, Phil Scarff, Chris Rakowski, Dan Zupan/saxes & woodwinds K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass/trumpets Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser/trombones Jeff Marsanskis, Bill Lowe/bass trombones, tuba Richard Nelson/guitar John Funkhouser/string bass Harry Wellott/drums Jerry Edwards/vocalist Mark ...
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“Savage has a warm and elastic touch, mixing confidence with pastel sounds.” GEORGE W. HARRIS, JAZZ WEEKLY “…the diversity of ‘Piano Voyages’ is astonishing – with originals suggesting influences from Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans to Chick Corea and George Winston alongside selected and clever interpretations of material by Wes Montgomery and The Beatles.” THE DAY, NEW LONDON, CT

“No one word could do justice to his performance; it was simply ‘beautiful.'” RYOTA KOJIMA, VOYAGE MAGAZINE, JAPAN

“…this is Savage’s album all the way, as he not only plays with a maturity well beyond his years but wrote and arranged every number…” ALL ABOUT JAZZ.COM

“No one word could do justice to his performance; it was simply ‘beautiful.'” RYOTA KOJIMA, VOYAGE MAGAZINE, JAPAN

“…this is Savage’s album all the way, as he not only plays with a maturity well beyond his years but wrote and arranged every number…” ALL ABOUT JAZZ.COM

“…Savage proves he’s no novelty act, as can be heard on his CD Welcome Home.” JAZZIZ

“…hints of Aaron Copland and Pat Metheny done in a piano trio setting that shows how hard-swinging a player Savage is.” CADENCE

“…a phenomenally talented pianist and composer who demands to be taken seriously on purely musical terms.” WALL STREET JOURNAL

“A wildly inventive composer, interpreter and pianist no matter what his age…Savage proves his maturity…” JAZZIZ

“He clearly knows what he is doing…not only as a hard bop/post-bop pianist, but also as a composer.” ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“This young man plays with grace, energy and originality. Jazz Savant INDEED!” MARIAN MCPARTLAND

“You blew my mind. That was incredible!” CONAN O’BRIEN, host of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”

“A jazz legend – at 15” AMERICAN WAY (2007)

“Jazz prodigy makes ‘Leap’ to maturity.” BOSTON HERALD

“As always, his amazing technique shines…” JAZZIZ

“…a schooled, seasoned jazz pianist…” JAZZTIMES

“…absolutely astonishing, refreshing and engaging…” ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“I am amazed at Matt’s musical ability at such an early age.” DAVE BRUBECK

“…he’s possessed of a remarkable talent…” JAZZIZ

“…is Matt Savage really that good? Does he deserve the hype and hoopla? In a word, yes… he’s an admirable jazz pianist, one whose age seems largely irrelevant…” ALL ABOUT JAZZ.COM

“…brilliant” TIME MAGAZINE

“…jazz phenom Matt Savage unlocks a door to genius using 88 keys” PEOPLE MAGAZINE

“The Key Master.” “…he’s got command of the music and, most important, he’s got swing.” THE BOSTON GLOBE

“…delightful and inspiring…” CHICK COREA

“…the future of JAZZ” JIMMY HEATH

“Besides being an extremely gifted pianist and improviser, Matt has the musical instincts of a person many years older. To me this is the most incredible characteristic about Matt. Where did this come from? Wow! I can’t wait to hear him perform when his feet can reach the pedals.” BOBBY WATSON

“I was amazed at how talented he is. Amazing is the word I can tell you. I keep track of young talent in kids, and he’s the first one that I met that young that was THAT talented. He has such a musical mind that it isn’t music that he has to learn. It seems like he’s such an advanced musician in so many ways already at 8.” DAVE BRUBECK (2000)

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