You know, I have heard so many stories of child prodigies over the years. Somehow, they always depress me — mostly because the child in question passes into adulthood and those dreams and high hopes never seem to be realized. Either that or they do attain their dreams and we never hear about it because music holds such a low spot in our societal hierarchy of needs.
Matt Savage's story did not take the usual child prodigy route. He was diagnosed at three years old with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a high-functioning type of autism. Matt found it very difficult to tolerate noise or music. After some very focused therapy and dietary changes, Matt's dislike of noise became inverted and an aptitude for music surfaced. At the age of 6 he began teaching himself music and piano. The next year he began studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. His first solo album came out later that year.
This is where the story usually trails off. In Savage's case though, there have been appearances on Conan O'Brien, The View, The Today Show, The New Orleans Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and The Blue Note. This year sees the release of Savage's eight album, a live recording entitled Hot Ticket. My goodness, when I was fifteen I was worrying about asking that girl to the dance and stumbling through the chords of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" on my acoustic guitar!
So the question remains, how is the music? "Surprising" is the word. Maybe that description is a little unfair, because what kept happening to me was that I'd allow the cliché of the young savant to creep in, making the arrival of mature musical passages seem surprising.
Case in point: "Father's Day." Savage's introduction (spoken in a very young, pre-change voice) dedicates the composition to his dad. Then...the song starts off with a simple blues shuffle that reminded me of the theme from (Matt, I'm sorry) Sesame Street. So here I am trying to evaluate this kid's talent and instead I'm falling back onto the lamest of thoughts. I feel bad. I want the kid to rally....to save me from myself. But that shuffle...there's not much in it. Oh sure, he does take some pretty sparse runs through the blues changes. It's nothing special but....wait, where'd that dissonance come from? And the switch back to half-time? Savage turns up the heat on the next chorus with some slippery and angular paths through the chords that would not be out of place in a Monk tune, coming from Monk's fingers.
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Article comments
1 - Pico
As you described it, this record would interest me regardless of who recorded it.
But as the father of a ten year old with PDD, I find it especially fascinating (and encouraging) that Matt was able turn a disability 180 degrees into an immense talent. It's a heart-warming story that promises to get even better for many more years to come.