John Savage: Musical Giant

The 6-foot-7 man towers over his peers, yet the instrument he plays is tiny. John Savage plays his flute in an unorthodox way. Instead of merely blowing wind into the instrument, he puts a twist into the songs by making percussive sounds, beat boxing, into the mouthpiece.

Savage teaches the middle and high school band at Northwest Academy during school hours and jazz band after hours.

Savage exudes a confident air. In an 8th grade class that I observed, he took time to work out problems within each instrumental section, making the class sound better. As his students play, Savage shouts things like, “Softer trumpets,” or “Louder clarinets.” He would also shout out the number of measures and clap when he felt like the band was getting off rhythm.

He would let the band play through the entire piece of music and then bring them to spots that were particularly challenging, like when the beat changes. Savage was very patient with the kids and at one point, a student yelled out, “You’re a good person, John.”

Whenever Savage walks into class, he is dressed nicely with a clean pressed dress shirt and black pants. When he is not wearing a dress shirt, he is wearing a sweater. When Savage plays the flute, he gets this look of utmost concentration, as if he is not paying attention to anything except for the beat and the music.

Savage grew up in southeast Portland, Oregon. His father was his inspiration to start playing the flute. Savage’s neighbor Earl Minor was a jazz doubler, a person who can play multiple instruments really well, traditionally woodwinds. Minor was Savage’s first real teacher. He got increasingly more serious about flute throughout high school.

In college, Savage dedicated himself to solely playing music. He attended Portland State University (PSU) and then later went to New York University (NYU). He said that his two teachers, the late Andrew Hill who was a jazz pianist and the flautist Will Offermans, opened up new doors for him.

“(Working with them) opened up the direction of more experimental jazz and playing jazz that I hadn’t been exposed to,” Savage said.

Savage’s teachers found him professional, dependable and easy to work with.

Charles Gray, one of Savage’s teachers, said,“There was never any doubt that he would achieve his goals. A true original.”

Savage’s music teachers loved the way that he could just pick up a flute and start jamming on it.

“John was an excellent player on flute and sax, technically and musically, very well trained,” Gray said. “He did a good job broadening his musical base and made significant contributions to the quality of our ensembles.”

Even though Savage came to college as an excellent flautist, he still was able to improve his musical ability.

“He just got better and better, devoting more time to classical and contemporary extended flute and sax technique,” Gray said.

Savage is unique in the way that he makes percussive sounds into his flute. He started beat boxing into his flute by listening to artists like Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Savage grew up in a time when beat boxing was very popular.

“In my high school people were constantly beat boxing down the hallways,” Savage said. “If you are open minded about beat boxing, it will eventually end up on your flute.”

When Savage moved on to NYU, he met Lisa Bost. She is still his friend and whenever they meet they end up playing music with each other.

“I really enjoy improvising with John because you can join him on the musical path he begins and it is interesting and adventurous,” Bost said. “I remember when he was busy writing his multiphonic flute quartet (four flutes creating eight notes at a time!). A great friend and a great musician, I have always enjoyed his music and am glad for our collaborative work.”

Savage’s first job was playing the flute at a Christmas Eve service at a Presbyterian church and playing at a place called The Metro, which is now a Columbia Sportswear store.

“It was sort of a strange food court piano bar,” Savage said. “That’s the first place I ever jammed with anyone in public.”

In Savage’s opinion, his biggest performances were when he got to play at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and when he got to play chamber music at the Birdland Club in New York.

“Inspiring, fun and challenging,” Bost said when asked about how it is to play with Savage. “John has a clear vision but is incredibly receptive and open to what may come. He also has incredible chops, so he can do pretty much anything on the flute.”

Over Savage’s lifetime he has been in a lot of bands, but currently he is in a group called Demolition Duo.

“Basically what I do is I have long standing groups with people around the country that I sometimes play with,” Savage said.

Even though Savage travels to play music at different places, he still has a family that he loves and cares about. Savage is 42 and has a 17-month-old daughter and a wife who plays a little bit of the cello where they live in Portland.

Even though Savage is very busy, he does his best to be part of the family. “You have to make room for it,” Savage said.