Date/Time
Date(s) - Thu. Jul. 15, 2021
7:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Categories
Join as tonight at the ROOTED Cafe for a free jam with Matt Savage, Gregory Toro, and Mark Zaleski. Show at 7:30 PM.
More on the performers below:
Matt Savage, age 29, has had a remarkable 20-year professional career as a jazz musician, bandleader and composer, performing with ensembles of different size and as a solo pianist. He’s played with some of the biggest names in jazz since first labeled a “jazz prodigy” at age 8 – the same year he met and played piano for Dave Brubeck. Matt has performed (on stage and in jam sessions) with artists such as 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, Donny McCaslin and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. Matt’s encounters with these jazz greats have always resulted in praise. Saxophonist Bobby Watson said it well after he first performed with Matt (age 11) in Kansas City. “It’s not so much that he was a virtuoso; he had chops, but he also had direction and he had language. Where did that come from? . . . I knew it wasn’t a pretend thing, that he was the real thing and he’d be in music for the rest of his life.”
From his emergence as a child prodigy to his continuance as a mature and respected artist, Matt has been the focus of media attention. He has appeared/performed on 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.) Numerous print outlets have featured stories on Matt and reviews of his music and performances including 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 and the New York Daily News.
Internationally touring musician Mark Zaleski has distinguished himself as a uniquely dynamic soloist, multi-instrumentalist, and band leader. He has performed with a diverse group of notable artists, including Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, The Louis Cole Big Band, Lake Street Dive, Ian Anderson, Rakalam Bob Moses, the Either/Orchestra, and Jason Palmer. His unique approach to jazz led him to become the first alto saxophonist selected to the prestigious Dave Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program in Stockton, Calif., 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 New England Conservatory of Music. It was at NEC that he was able to study with some of the most influential teachers of his life, Charlie Banacos and Jerry Bergonzi.
Gregory Toro was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He fell in love with music and rhythm as a child, and at the age of ten joined a neighborhood steel band that played calypso and church music on weekends. He later took up guitar and piano, but found his true calling as a bass player when he was sixteen years old. Greg studied electric and upright bass and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with musicians from many different countries and cultures. He has gone on to travel the world with jazz and rock groups, and continues to perform nightly in a wide variety of styles.