FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 5, 2010

Matt Savage Releases Welcome Home on November 9th

Matt Savage’s highly anticipated ninth jazz album, Welcome Home, will be released November 9th on Savage Records, followed by a special CD release party and concert at the Regattabar in Boston on November 10th. The first single, “Big Apple Blues,” will also ship to radio for a November 9th release.

Welcome Home was produced by Grammy-nominated Jonathan Wyner and engineered by nine-time Grammy winner, Tom Bates, the same stellar team at the helm of the Matt Savage Trio’s prior album, Hot Ticket: Live in Boston (2008). Matt’s career and travels, from the country to the city to concerts around the world, began at the age of seven, when Matt released his first album and was hailed as a jazz prodigy. More than a decade later, Welcome Home celebrates the many places Matt now calls “home.”

“The album really started with the composition of the track ‘Picturesque,’” says Savage. “I live on an incredibly beautiful organic farm in New Hampshire, so the song became a sort of theme song for my family home. From there, I decided to write an entire album about the travels and destinations (such as New York) that became my ‘homes away from home.’ The album culminates with the biggest change in my life: my arrival at Berklee College of Music in Boston in the fall of 2009.”

Composed and arranged entirely by Matt, Welcome Home features both a quintet and a trio to showcase Matt’s music. The quintet lineup reunites Matt with saxophone great Bobby Watson, with whom Matt performed seven years ago. Bobby Watson is featured on alto sax, Jeremy Pelt on trumpet/flugelhorn, Joris Teepe on bass and Peter Retzlaff on drums. Several of Matt’s new compositions appear as trio recordings with various configurations comprised of Joris Teepe and Peter Retzlaff as well as longtime bassist, John Funkhouser and drummer, Yoron Israel.

Recorded at Systems Two Recording Studio in Brooklyn, Welcome Home features thirteen new and original songs including the five-part “Big Apple Suite,” inspired by Matt’s landmark musical appearances in Manhattan. At the age of 11, Matt debuted at the famed Blue Note (and was signed as an artist for Bösendorfer pianos). The following year, he appeared at Birdland with the legendary Clark Terry on trumpet, Jimmy Heath on sax, Jon Faddis on trumpet, Marcus McLaurine on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. In 2007, Matt made his first appearance at the prestigious Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center and in 2009, he debuted “Big Apple Suite” at New York’s Cachaça Jazz Club.

Presently a sophomore at Berklee College of Music, Matt used his campus experience as inspiration for the title track as well as the song, “You Are Here.” Matt manages to balance classes, studies and concert gigs while maintaining a GPA of 4.0 and achieving Dean’s List status. The Boston Globe caught up with Matt this year and described just how well he is navigating college and career. Referencing Matt’s performance of his original composition “Picturesque,” the writer praises Matt’s maturing playing style and ability to demonstrate power and fluidity in a rendition that is lilting, expressive and “lends its soft edge a big, impressive sound.” Matt shares, “What I love about jazz is its spontaneity.” The Globe writer states Matt’s spontaneous quality is embedded in every note just played.

Welcome Home takes the listener from the cycles of country life to the day-to-night rhythms of a metropolitan city. “It’s about changing homes incredibly quickly and still calling it home,” says Matt. “It’s about being suddenly bombarded with information and surrounded by people and then taking a break from that. It’s about the fear of the inevitable … and the thrill of promise. It’s about returning home as much as it is about going away. And, more than anything, it’s about enjoying every minute of it.” Jazz lovers will undoubtedly enjoy every minute of Welcome Home as Matt Savage continues his creative evolution, captivating fans with his music and live performances and reflecting the synchronicity that emerges when exceptional music meets an exceptional musician.

For more information please visit: www.savagerecords.com.