Artist Information Biography Currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, guitarist Az Samad has performed in festivals and venues in San Francisco, Boston, New York, West Virginia, Austria, United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia. Besides performing solo acoustic guitar, he also plays gypsy jazz with Jazz Mine (SF), world music with BogoFusion (SF) and is the guitarist for The Shelley Leong Band (SF/Malaysia). Az has studied guitar with Eric Roche (UK), Thomas Leeb (Austria/LA), Don Ross (Canada), Mick Goodrick (Gary Burton Group), David Tronzo, John Stowell, Jimmy Wyble, Ben Monder (Maria Schneider Orchestra) and Bryan Baker (Steps Ahead). He has also participated in classical guitar master classes with Mark Teicholz and Muriel Anderson as well as taken private lessons with Steven Lin, Patrick Francis, Grisha Goryachev, Scott Tennant, Willliam Kanengiser, Gyan Riley and Ron Burczon. As an educator, Az has been a faculty member for the Berklee College Of Music Summer Guitar Sessions since 2007 where he graduated Summa Cum Laude (dual major in Jazz Composition and Guitar Performance). He is currently writing material for his second solo album. Contact Az at: talktoazsamad at yahoo dot com Current Projects and Gigs: Az Samad : solo acoustic fingerstyle guitar originals Az Samad Duo: jazz/world duo w/ Carrie Jahde and Eli Harrison (rotating lineup) Kiyoe Blue: brazilian/jazz guitar-vocal duo w/ Kiyoe Wakabayashi Tara Linda and The Blue Fur Monkeys: tex mex originals Jazz Mine: gypsy jazz string ensemble Awards: 2009 - William and Marijane Adams Endowment Recipient 2009 - Lois King Thore Music Scholarship Recipient 2008 - San Jose State University Graduate Program Scholarship Recipient 2008 - Pongid Radio Featured Artist (August 2008) 2007 - Sonicbids Spotlight Artist (December 2007) 2007 - "Berjalan Bersamamu" received an honorable mention in the 11th Unisong International Songwriting Contest for the "Instrumental (any style)" category. 2005 - Berklee College Of Music World Scholarship Tour Recipient 2003 - Nominated for Best Solo Performance(Music) in the first Cameronian Arts Award, a prestigious event for the arts community in Malaysia. Az has performed at: Malaysia : Venues: No Black Tie Istana Budaya Avanti's Alexis Bar and Bistro La Bodega Le Bernardin Bangkok Jazz Paul's Place Backyard Pub Laundry Bar KL JamAsia Fasta Pasta Schokolart, Soho KL Starbucks KLue Acoustic Series Borders Books MPH Bookstores, Midvalley Megamall The Palace Of The Golden Horses Mandarin Oriental Equatorial Hotel Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) The Actor's Studio Dataran Merdeka The Actor's Studio Box Auditorium DBKL Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka MATIC Universiti Malaya Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia International College Of Music UCSI Recital Hall, Sedaya College Monash University PRIME College Commonwealth Club Malaysia Central Market Taman Budaya Ipoh Plaza Putra, Dataran Merdeka Kelab Darul Ehsan Dataran Shah Alam Karnival Sure Heboh TV3, Stadium Bukit Jalil Times Square Shopping Mall Sunway Pyramid Bangsar Shopping Centre Festivals : As part of Shelley Leong and Jazz Odyssey: Penang Island Jazz Festival 2004 Sunrise Jazz and Rhythm Festival 2005 & 2006 Heineken Octoberfest KL Sing Song 2006 Festival As Dalcha Duo (acoustic guitar duo project with Hardesh Singh) Fete De La Musique Festival 2003 As a solo act: Singapore Writers Festival 2007 Yogyakarta Quake Aid 2006 Fete De La Musique Festival 2004 17th National Malaysian Poetry Day 2007 Jairus Anthony Music Festival 2004 Unplugged at Paulies 2003 Singapore: The Singapore Art Museum Esplanade Outdoor Theatre Stage The Arts House @ Old Parliament Home Bar Austria: Mei Zeit Chalet, Turracher Hohe UK: Newton Ferrers Yacht Club US: New York City: Stain Bar NY Caffe Vivaldi Boston: Swiss Human Rights Exhibition @ Logan Airport Marriot Copley Berklee Performance Center Lawrence Berk Recital Hall MIT Harvard University La Luna Caffe, Cambridge The Paulist Center Club Passim (open mic) All Asia Bar (open mic) Fire and Ice Boston (open mic) San Francisco Bay Area: Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library Caffe Trieste (San Francisco and Berkeley,CA) Coffee Adventures Palace Hotel The Cannery Beckett's, Berkeley Boulevard Restaurant Mama Buzz Cafe, Oakland Nomad Cafe Bazaar Cafe Beale Street Bar and Grill Blondie's Bar and No Grill King Tsin Restaurant Anna's Jazz Island Octavia Lounge Brainwash Rooz Cafe Sea Mi Restaurant Red Rock Coffee C'era Una Volta, Alameda The Uptown, Oakland Shashamane International Bar & Grill, Oakland Grant and Green Mama Art Cafe Orso Restaurant, Berkeley OneWorldWalk, Berkeley Senzala Restaurant, Sunnyvale Mission City Coffee Roasting Co., Santa Clara La Plaza Park, Cotati West Virginia: Appalachian South Folk Life Center Festivals: As a solo act: Culturefest 2007 and 2008, Pipestem, West Virginia As The Az Samad Duo (w/ Carrie Jahde on drums): The First Annual Downtown Berkeley MusicFest 2008 (w/ Rick Vandivier Duo) San Jose Jazz Festival 2009 (w/ Tara Linda and Luna Nueva) The 19th Annual Cotati Accordion Festival (w/ Planet Loop) Y2K9 International Live Looping Festival, Santa Cruz, CA. As Az & The Jazz Strings: MIT Nightmarket 2007 Az has taught at: Berklee College Of Music (Berklee Summer Guitar Sessions 2007 & 2008) - Boston,MA The North Beach Teen Program Guitar Classes @ Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center - San Francisco, CA San Jose State University (Teaching Assistant for Guitar Fundamentals Class) De Anza College (Teaching Assistant for Intermediate/Advanced Guitar Class) Az has conducted guitar workshops at: Culturefest 2008, Pipestem, West Virginia, USA. International College Of Music, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia AC Pickers @ Freeman Guitars, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Guitar Collection Subang Jaya, Malaysia Music Hut, Damansara Perdana, Malaysia Kl SingSong Festival 2006 TV/Radio/Media appearances/interviews/performances: France: 'The C Factor' chosen to be on continual airplay on 100% Music Radio Station (Avrille, France) US: Pen Women Presents Show - Channel 29 SF Access (San Francisco, CA) PIXY 103 - Homegrown Radio Show (Cape Cod,MA) mvyradio Local MusiCafe (Martha's Vinyard, MA) Celtic Folk Podcast (Georgetown, KY) Upbeat Radio Podcast (Georgetown, KY) Pongid Radio (Second Life) WJFN Showcase Internet Radio Show (Long Island, NY) Junior's Cave Online Magazine Spotlight (Brunswick,GA) Damn Good Tunes Online Magazine Feature (Rochester,WA) Seattle PI newspaper website (Seattle, WA) KBBF,89.1 FM, (Santa Rosa, CA) Pirate Cat Radio (San Francisco, CA) Malaysia: RTM1 RTM2 TV3 NTV7 8TV Astro TraxxFM Red104.9 Channel V X-Fresh Radio Singapore: Suria Segar TV Show Mr. Brown Podcast Show (interview and performance with Shelley Leong) For Performance videos: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=azsamad Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/azsamad Instrumentation Solo shows- Az Samad - solo acoustic guitar Duo shows- Az Samad- acoustic guitars (steel string and nylon string guitar) Rotating duos with either: Eli Harrison - percussions Carrie Jahde - drumset and percussions Az & The Jazz Strings (Trio and Quartet Shows) Az Samad - guitar Michael Borgida - guitar Helen Sherrah-Davies - violin, electric violin Shelley Leong - cello and percussions (hand drum, ocean drum, shaker, misc. hand percussion) Other active projects: Tara Linda and the Blue Fur Monkeys (Tex-Mex, Jazzy Blues, Spaghetti Western) Kiyoe Blue (Brazilian Jazz, Swing) Jazz Mine (Gypsy Jazz) Discography Acoustic Gestures is available for purchase on: www.cdbaby.com/azsamad iTunes EMusic Real Rhapsody Napster and all major online retailers. The Snow and Ice EP is available on Az's Snocap store on his myspace page : www.myspace.com/azsamad 2008 - New Age and New Sounds Compilation CD (Italian music magazine) 2007- Snow and Ice EP (exclusive online-only release) 2007- Ciplak - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2006- Panic In The Peninsula (compilation album) 2004- Acoustic Gestures (debut solo guitar album) 2003- ICOM :Feel The Buzz (compilation album) 2003- Echoes Of Bangsar (limited printing self-produced EP) 2002- B'Yu (Universal Music/Synchrosound Music) (as lyricist) Songs licensed for use in: 2007- Teaser Trailer for "London Calling", a indie movie by Anugerah Skrin Award Winner Kharil M. Bahar 2007- The Bedroom Musicians Series Promotional Video 2005- Video CD of Malaysian National Laurete A Samad Said - "A Samad Said - Kehidupan Seorang Seniman Malaysia" Original Music for children's musical: 2003- Di Mana Singa (Where is the Lion) directed by Ladin Nuawi Original Theme Songs for: 2008 - The 6th Young Singers Choral Festival - 'Not Alone Anymore' (co-written with Shelley Leong) 2004 - Monolog Memori Di Hadapan Pulau directed by SN Datuk Dr. A Samad Said Links http://www.azsamad.com