One of 17 Malaysia's most outstanding individuals (Faces Magazine), San Francisco Bay Area acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Az Samad is a full-time musician who focuses on writing original instrumental guitar music. His songs are a blend of world music, jazz, Latin, pop and new age influences. In 2003 and 2004, he studied with the late British acoustic guitar legend Eric Roche in two Residential Guitar Workshops in the UK. Deeply influenced by Eric's music, Az gradually incorporated more percussive and non-conventional guitar techniques in his playing. After releasing his debut album "Acoustic Gestures" in Fall 2004 to critical acclaim in Malaysia, he moved to Boston, MA to study under scholarship at Berklee College Of Music. He graduated with a double major in Jazz Composition and Performance (guitar). In 2007, Az taught at Berklee for the Summer Guitar Sessions. Az has performed in venues in Malaysia, Singapore, England and the United States as a soloist and duets with his father, Malaysian National Laurete A. Samad Said as well as a member of Malaysian singer-songwriter Shelley Leong's band. He is currently writing material for his second album slated for release in Summer 2008. (source: www.sonicbids.com/azsamad) User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.