Along with autism came another label: musical savant. When he was a young boy, his parents, Diane and Larry, saw that Matthew got several types of therapy, including auditory integration, which helped him tolerate sounds. As a result, he fell in love with music.
Today, when Savage sits at the piano, he seems as though he’s in another world. His slender fingers fly over the keys, alternately muscular and nuanced. He says he plays in the bebop tradition of the ’50s and ’60s. Thelonious Monk is his hero.