Pianist Matt Savage and the Matt Savage Trio January 8, 2011

Augustana Arts presents

MATT SAVAGE TRIO

After rave reviews, the phenomenally talented pianist Matt Savage returns to Denver on Saturday, January 8 at 7:30 p.m. and he’s not alone. Matt will be performing original tunes and swinging jazz improvisations with the Boston-based Matt Savage Trio, consisting of Matt on piano, bass player John Funkhouser and drummer Steve Silverstein atAugustana Lutheran Church, 5000 E. Alameda Ave., Denver. Tickets are $25 Adult and $15 Seniors and Students. Tickets are available by calling 303-388-4962 or online at www.augustanaarts.org

Matt Savage was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old. By the time he was 6 years old he had taught himself to play piano. Today Time magazine calls jazz pianist, Matt Savage "brilliant". People magazine calls him "a genius with 88 keys". Dave Brubeck says he is "simply amazed" at his talent. Chick Corea uses the words "delightful and inspiring". An amazingly gifted jazz pianist, composer and improviser, 18-year-old Matt Savage has the musical instincts of a person many years older.

In 2000, when Matt Savage was just 8 years old, he played piano for Dave Brubeck and jammed at a sound session with Chick Corea and his sidemen, Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard. The following year he was invited to a sound check to jam with jazz great McCoy Tyner and his sidemen, Avery Sharpe and Al Foster.

In 2003, at the age of 11, Matt debuted at the famed Blue Note in Manhattan and was signed as a Bösendorfer Piano artist. The following year he debuted at Birdland, performing with the legendary Clark Terry on trumpet, Jimmy Heathon sax, Jon Faddis on trumpet, Marcus McLaurine on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. By 2005, Matt had performed twice with Chaka Khan.

In 2007, Matt made his first appearance at the prestigious Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center and appeared on Marian McPartland’s popular “Piano Jazz” syndicated National Public Radio (NPR) series. In 2008, when Matt was 15, he appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" as the musical act.

Matt has performed professionally worldwide in ensembles of various size and in solo concerts since 2001. He is the leader of the Matt Savage Trio. Domestic venues have included Birdland, the Blue Note, The Kennedy Center, The Kravis Center, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Regattabar and the Jazz Bakery (among many others). Festival appearances have included the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, the VSA International Arts Festival, the Burlington [VT] Discover Jazz Festival and the Toronto Abilities Arts Festival. Performances have occurred in many countries, including all over the U.S. and Canada, Curacao, Aruba and Singapore (for the President of Singapore).

Matt Savage has played with such jazz greats as Jimmy Heath, Bobby Watson, John and Tom Pizzarelli, the Ellington All Stars and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. He’s performed with Max Weinberg and Ben Vereen and accompanied folk singer/songwriters Al Stewart and Shawn Colvin. Matt has opened for/double-billed with Wynton Marsalis, Danilo Perez, Dave Samuels, Eldar Djangirov, Alain Mallet, Alon Yavnai, D.D. Jackson, Seth Kaufman, John Payne and Charlie Adams.

Matt has received the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award every year since 2005 and topped the International Songwriting Competition each year since 2006. He garnered the award for Second Place in 2009. Matt was a recipient of the Dr. Margaret L. Bauman Award of Excellence in 2005 and the Council of Exceptional Children Award in 2008.

Matt’s latest CD, Welcome Home, was just released on November 10. Recorded in Brooklyn, NY at Systems Two Recording Studio in July 2010, Welcome Home features the legendary Bobby Watson on alto sax, Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Joris Teepe (John Funkhouser on some songs) on bass and Peter Retzlaff (also Yoron Israel) on drums. The album is all original compositions, recorded with a trio and,for the first time, a quintet!

More information at http://www.savagerecords.com/ and YouTube http://www.youtube.com/mattsavagejazz

Augustana Arts - Pianist Matt Savage and the Matt Savage Trio - Original tunes and swinging jazz improvisations. Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Augustana Lutheran Church, 5000 East Alameda Ave., Denver. $25 Adult / $15 Senior & Student - 303-388-4962 - www.augustanaarts.org