Matt Savage, age 31, has had a remarkable 20+ 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 fifteen albums and EPs as a leader.  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 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 release is the Matt Savage Quartet’s album, The Whole Package!  This album, released on June 16th, 2023, is his first acoustic “straight-ahead” jazz CD since 2016.  Savage also has two recent jazz-funk albums with the Matt Savage Groove Experiment, entitled Splash Variations (2018) and The Groove Reawakens (2022).

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.  Back in the Boston area, Matt is an adjunct professor at Longy School of Music of Bard College, Saint Anselm College, and Bunker Hill Community College, and he also teaches at Community Music Center of Boston.  He gives masterclasses and workshops domestically and internationally (in English and Spanish) as well as private piano lessons.

Internationally touring musician, Mark Zaleski, has distinguished himself as a uniquely dynamic soloist, mulit-instrumentalist, and band leader. He has performed with a diverse group of notable artists including Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, Ian Anderson, Lake Street Dive, the grammy-winning 8-Bit Big Band, Louis Cole, Connie Francis, Mahmoud Ahmed, Rakalam Bob Moses, the Either/Orchestra, and Jason Palmer.  He has been a featured soloist with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the Chrysalis Rock Orchestra.

Growing up in the small town of Boylston, MA, Zaleski was influenced by the musical tastes of his friends, family, and teachers.  His parents were fans of rock and pop music from the 1960’s and 1970’s like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder.  His friends were fans of punk and metal bands of the 1990’s like Nirvana, Metallica, and Pearl Jam.  His brother, Glenn Zaleski, and his music teachers listened to jazz artists such as Dave Brubeck, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Cannonball Adderley, and John Coltrane.

His unique approach to jazz led him to become the first alto saxophonist selected to the prestigious Dave Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program in Stockton, CA in 2003. Zaleski spent those two year performing with his virtuostic peers and learning from established pros such as Bobby Watson, Ndugu Chancler, Conrad Herwig, Eric Harland, Greg Tardy, Rufus Reid, Robin Eubanks, and Mic Gillette. Upon completion of the Brubeck Institute, Mark continued his studies at The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. It was at the New England Conservatory that he was able to study with some of the most influential teachers of his life, Charlie Banacos and Jerry Bergonzi. While at The New England Conservatory, Zaleski began to delve deeply into composition.  His compositional style derives itself from the music he grew up listening to while still drawing from his training as a jazz musician.

While the band has no vocalist, Zaleski takes on the lead voice channeling a combination of his saxophone heroes and inspirational vocalists like Stevie Wonder, Robert Plant, Michael Jackson, and Donny Hathaway.  This sound proved to be a unique voice in jazz, and started touring at clubs, colleges, and festivals around the country.  Notable appearances have been at Small’s in New York City, the Ballard Jazz Festival in Seattle, the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival in Boston, and the Istanbul Jazz Festival.

The personal relationships within the ensemble is one of the most important and unique aspects of the Mark Zaleski Band. Beginning at the ages of 10 and 8 years old, Mark and his brother, Glenn Zaleski, have been playing music and creatively collaborating together for the past twenty years! Since meeting at The New England Conservatory, Zaleski and tenor saxophonist Jon Bean have played together as a saxophone duo for 15 years and work together as if one mind is manipulating both of their musical voices. These are only two examples of how the interpersonal relationships within the band play a major role in creating its sound.

Additionally, Zaleski is active in many musical projects including work with Mehmet Sanlikol, Matt Savage, Omar Thomas Large Ensemble, The Brighton Beat, John Allmark Jazz Orchestra and the Either/Orchestra. He also is on faculty at the Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music. In addition, he is the founder of Boston-based soul band “Planet Radio,” and plays electric bass in the band.

Zaleski currently serves on the faculty of Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory in Boston, MA