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Tom Saviano

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Tom Saviano
Background information
Born
Tom Richard Saviano

(1949-06-29) June 29, 1949 (age 77)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • arranger
  • producer
InstrumentsSaxophone, keyboards
Years active1973–present
Label
  • Obsessed with the Groove
Formerly of

Tom Richard Saviano (born June 29, 1949) is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and producer.

Early life

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Saviano was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Albert and Dorthy Saviano.[1] His father, Al, was a student of jazz trumpeter Zilner Randolph, best known for his work with Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, and Duke Ellington. Al then became a big band conductor and arranger in Chicago, which contributed to Tom's early exposure to music.[2] His family moved to Huntington Beach, California in the late 1960s when Saviano was 17 years old.

Career

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Music

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Saviano's professional career began after moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. In 1975, Vini Poncia, who was writing and producing for Ringo Starr at the time, began hiring Saviano for horn arrangements and saxophone solos. Sessions that Poncia hired him for included David Pomeranz, the Faragher Brothers, and Melissa Manchester. With Manchester, Saviano arranged and played saxophone on three of her albums: Help Is on the Way, Singin', and Don‘t Cry Out Loud. His first major gig came as Manchester's musical director during the recording of Singin' in 1977. He also toured with Manchester, assembling her backing band and playing saxophone and keyboards.

He went on to record with many other artists, including Dolly Parton (on the Grammy Award-winning hit "9 to 5"), Earth, Wind & Fire (on the Grammy Award-winning hit "Wanna Be with You"), and Sheena Easton (for whom he wrote the hit single "Hard to Say It’s Over").[2] In 2004, he recorded with Ray Charles on the multi-Grammy award winning album Genius Loves Company. In 2015, he composed, arranged, and produced the song “Lucky Chance” from the album “Back to You” by Arno Haas, featuring Al Jarreau. It was one of Jarreau's last jazz/pop recordings before his death in February 2017.

Heat

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In November 1979, Saviano formed the group Heat, which released two albums on MCA Records, Heat and Still Waitin'.[3] The group had two Top 40 R&B hits, "Just Like You" and "This Love That We Found." On both albums, he produced, arranged, wrote and/or co-wrote all of the songs, and played saxophone and keyboards. Heat did not release another album until Revisited in 2013.

Bill Champlin and the Sons of Champlin

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Saviano has had a long working relationship with Bill Champlin, with whom he wrote the song "Holdin' On" for Chicago's 1991 album "Twenty 1." He performed on Champlin's albums "Through It All" (1994), He Started to Sing (1995), Mayday (1997), and No Place Left to Fall (2008). He was a member of Champlin's band, The Sons of Champlin, on their 1997 reunion tour and following albums. One performance on that tour was at the "30th Anniversary of The Summer of Love" concert held in Golden Gate Park, which also featured Jefferson Airplane, John Handy and members of the Grateful Dead.[4] Champlin provided vocals on Saviano's 2000 album Crossings.

Television

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Saviano has written, produced, and performed several arrangements for television. He was the bandleader and conductor for David Letterman’s first pilot, Leave It to Dave, and a producer, composer, and performer for Showtime’s Aerobicise, which reached number one on the Billboard Videos chart. For its entire run from 1986 to 1988, Saviano was a band member on The Late Show with Joan Rivers. Recent television work includes Karen Sisco and Family Guy.

Discography

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As leader

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  • Making Up Lost Time (Break Away, 1996)
  • Crossings (Obsessed with the Groove, 2000)

As a member

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Odyssey

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Heat

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  • Heat (MCA, 1980) – producer
  • Still Waiting (MCA, 1981) – producer
  • Revisited (Vivid Sound, 2013) – producer
  • Put Your Trust in Love (ft. Jevon McGlory & Horn Engine) (Bad Hat, 2023) – producer

Sender

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  • Exiled on Earth (RCA, 1984)

The Sons of Champlin

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  • Live (Grateful Dead, 1998) – producer
  • Secret (2004)
  • Hip Li'l Dreams (DIG Music, 2005) – producer

As producer

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  • Chris Bennett, Chris Bennett (Beachwood, 1993)
  • Thom Rotella, A Day in the Life (Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records, 2002)
  • Romina Arena, You're Gonna Hear from Me (Outback Records, 2006)
  • Cara-C, Starchild (Clarion, 2007)
  • Chris Bennett, Girl Talk (Renegade Entertainment, 2008)
  • Denise DeCaro, Love Always (2008)
  • Cara-C, Clouds of Magellan (Forever Love, 2009)
  • Arno Haas, Magic Hands (2013)
  • David Krapes, DK Tonight (Artifex, 2014)
  • Arno Haas, Back to You (Mochermusic, 2015)
  • Al Jarreau, Lucky Chance (2015)
  • Horn Engine, The World Above (2021)
  • Horn Engine, Let Me Stay (2021)
  • Denise DeCaro, No Ending (2025)

As composer

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As sideman

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With David Diggs

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  • First Flight (Essar, 1973)
  • Out on a Limb (PBR, 1976)
  • Nothing But the Truth (Artful Balance, 1989)
  • Tell Me Again (Artful Balance, 1991)
  • Westcoastal (Cool Sound, 1999)

With Melissa Manchester

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With Dolly Parton

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With Bill Champlin

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  • Through It All (Beverly, 1994)
  • He Started to Sing (Beverly, 1995)
  • Mayday (Turnip the Music Group, 1997)
  • No Place Left to Fall (DreamMakers, 2008)

With AOR

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  • L.A. Reflection (FS Records, 2002)
  • Dreaming of L.A. (AOR Heaven, 2003)
  • L.A Concession (MTM Classix, 2006)
  • The Colors of L.A. (AOR Blvd., 2012)

With others

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Soundtracks

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References

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  1. ↑ "Tom Saviano, "United States, Census, 1950"".
  2. 1 2 "Tom Saviano - JazzTimes". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  3. ↑ SoulTracks (July 7, 2013). "Classic album "Heat" is revisited in 2013". SoulTracks. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  4. ↑ Saviano, Tom. "Crossings Bio - Tom Saviano". Archived from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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