Faculty Profile: Ron Savage

Ron Savage remembers the impact of hearing drums at a July 4 paradewhen he was little. “The percussion section of the marching band came by,” Savage recalls, “and according to my parents, I took off running and followed the drums all the way to the end of the parade route.” That was the first indicator that drumming would have a powerful effect on him. “Once I began playing, I knew that I wanted to play drums for the rest of my life.”

His musical path began with drum lessons at eight and ultimately led him to studies at Berklee in the early 1980s to gigs with a veritable who’s who in the jazz world, and then back to Berklee, where he has been a faculty member for 19 years. Savage has been chair of the Ensemble Department since 2000. Early on, he found that in addition to playing drums, he also had a gift and passion for teaching.

Savage spent his early years in Westchester County, New York, and his first opportunities to play music came by way of his church. Later he broadened his stylistic palette. “I played old-time gospel in my church when I was a kid, he says. “When I was 13, my family moved to Ahoskie, North Carolina. I was in an r&b band playing tunes by Rick James, the Bar-Kays, James Brown, and others in juke joints around rural North Carolina.”

Savage and his brother had to get creative to find good music on the radio in their rural town in the northeast corner of the state. “The local radio station went off the air when the sun went down,” Savage recalls. “But my younger brother found a way to amplify the coil in the radio, and we started getting stations from Norfolk, Virginia, and elsewhere. I remember a Sunday morning when one of the stations played some jazz. I heard Dizzy Gillespie singing ‘Salt Peanuts’ followed by Coltrane’s ‘My Favorite Things.’ I didn’t know anything about what kind of music it was, but I knew I had to play it.”

It wasn’t until Savage got to Berklee that he began to play jazz with other students. After graduating in 1984 as a drum performance major, he established himself as a jazz musician around Boston. His drum teacher Alan Dawson began recommending him for jazz gigs that Dawson couldn’t make. “The first important gig I had was with some former members of the Count Basie Band,” Savage recalls. “Things took off from there and I started going on the road playing with older jazz guys.” For a decade after graduating from Berklee, Savage toured with Mulgrew Miller, Gary Bartz, Nnenna Freelon, and others. (Today, the roster of artists he’s played with includes Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Cyrus Chestnut, Mark Whitfield, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, and many more.)

In 1993, Savage left the road and joined the Berklee faculty, teaching ear training and drum lessons initially. He was named the assistant chair of percussion in 1996 and, four years later, the chair of the Ensemble Department.

From an early age, Savage felt drawn to teaching; at the age of the 13, he began teaching friends drum beats. At Berklee, Savage stresses the importance of mastering the fundamentals of music. “The high standards and expectations we have for our students can’t change,” he says. “How students apply that knowledge in their own careers is up to them. Technology may continue to affect the way music is produced or delivered, but the music has to be there. People still want good songs and good beats.”

Some 13 years ago, Savage unexpectedly began a charitable effort to teach music to young people at Abundant Life Church in Cambridge. “A seven-year-old boy came up to me at my church and told me he wanted to learn to play the drums,” recalls Savage. “I told him to come back on Saturday and I’d teach him. He showed up with a friend who also wanted to learn, so I taught them both. More kids came each week, and soon I had five students. Then a parent asked me about piano lessons for her daughter, so I found someone to teach her piano. No one had money to pay for the lessons. I was giving drum lessons for free and paying for the piano teacher initially. Pretty soon we had a dozen students taking drum and piano lessons. I feel everyone should have a chance to play a musical instrument—even if they aren’t planning to become a musician.”

Savage organized Abundant Life Music Instruction (ALMI), which currently provides lessons on half a dozen instruments to 40 students, 30 weeks a year. The operation is now self-sustaining, with families paying as they are able. Savage and his wife, Lois, hold fundraising events and seek out sponsorships to fill the gaps for ALMI’s rent and teacher salaries.

Many lives have been touched through Savage’s mentoring and generous spirit. A number of ALMI students have won scholarships to various colleges—including Berklee. One student’s story has brought things full circle for Savage. Mark Ward was the seven-year-old who initially approached Savage about lessons. Ward wanted to pursue a music career and worked with Savage for years. “When he told me he wanted to go to music school,” says Savage. “I told him that if he did everything I told him to, he’d get a full scholarship.” Savage laid it out and Ward worked diligently. As predicted, he received a full-tuition scholarship through the Berklee City Music Program and has just earned his bachelor’s degree. Savage sees a bright future for him. And Ward gives back by teaching at ALMI, and in addition to performing extensively, he has released his first CD.

Looking over his career to date, Savage is grateful as well as philosophical. “I’ve had a great education and the chance to play with some of the best jazz musicians ever. I get to teach at the best music school anywhere, and run another program where I can pass it all on.”