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Afro American Syndicate 11/04/03Young Genius "Matt Savage" Optimizing Jazz PerformanceExcites New York "Blue Note" Crowd The folks who came out to spend an evening with 11year-old Matt Savage last night at New York's 'Blue Note' could not have imagined the level of ecstasy with which this young genius was about to reveal in his jazz interpretations. Matt Savage has already done what most musicians would like to accomplish in a lifetime. He has appeared on NBC's Today Show, interviewed by Barbara Walters, been featured in People and Jazziz magazines, performed his compositions around the world, and wowed masters such as Dave Brubeck and Chick Corea. The differentiating qualities about young Matt Savage performance is his capability to be versatile with his flavorings, without hesitation and with command. He demonstrates tremendous confidence. Matt combines all forms of harmony resolution, not just rhythmic or counterpoint, but he goes beyond to levels once visited by Bach concerto and Mozart. Aside from his genius, I also give credit to his mom who sits in the audience and simply smiles, allowing her son the thrill of spotlighting on his own. Matt gets up from the piano, stands at the mic and introduces every song. He reminds me of the innocence that made "Dennis the Menace", a loving television character. "Is this water?" he asks his mother in between a song, 'Ummm thanks mom", as he reaches toward her table for the waterbottle to take a sip before she can respond. It is such a thrill to see Matt drink the water from the side of his mouth, (I did the same when I was 11). Yes, he is still a kid. His playful little ways only draw more love from his audience. And he's not just a performer. He adds comedy to his show. "Pick a number between one and 100" Matt asked the audience, "50", "75", "26" came sounding back to him from the audience. "How many 47's", Matt asked the crowd, and nobody responds. "That proves it..47 is a lonely number ..and that's why I wrote my next song titled '47' by Matt Savage". Diane Savage, Matt's mom told me before his performance, that they'd driven 6-hours from New Hampshire to get to New York City for the Blue Note gig. I asked, "just for this". Mom humbly responds, "What do you mean JUST?. This is the legendary Blue Note. Matt and I are very pleased and happy to be here." And yes, there is a dad, Larry Savage remained home with Matt's younger 8-year-old sister. Clearly the Blue Note continues its legacy of introducing brilliance in the world of jazz as evidenced by the genius of Matt Savage, a remarkable young spirit, enormously talented with a very bright future.
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