KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — Jazz guitarist Az Samad is also a composer/educator who received his musical education in Berkeley, California.
He has recorded with Grammy winners Flaco Jiménez & Max Baca, performed in America, Europe and Asia and has appeared on 21 CDs.
He was also selected as one of the presenters for TEDxKL 2013, one of the largest TEDx events in Southeast Asia.
Previously, he has worked with singer-songwriters Tara Linda and Reza Salleh, guitarists Mike Dawes, John Stowell, Adam Rafferty, Stuart Ryan and Teja Gerken as well as other well known performers.
He is known for his finger-style guitar technique and is currently teaching students in Malaysia as well as overseas.
“I had the Motivic Basis for Jazz Guitar Improvisation by Steve Rochinski for a while. It was left in storage and I only got it back. Steve Rochinski was one of my teachers at Berkeley. I practice from this book on and off.” — Pictures by Choo Choy May
So where does all the creativity happen? We visited his workspace and found it surrounded by books, mostly belonging to his father the national laureate A. Samad Said.
He tells us what is on his desk and why:
“I just got these Shure headphones a few months ago because I didn’t have proper headphones. The others were not loud enough for transcribing and YouTube but these are great.”
“I was a tester for the Batt-o-meter because my friend worked in the company” (left). “This iRig can be used with iPhone, iPad and other devices. You can also plug in through USB. I can record with the iRig right now. It’s a simple home studio with the concept of mobile recording that means I don’t always have to be in a studio. It also has clearer sounds than a built-in mic. It also works for a mic cable. The iRig won’t be a substitute for big studios but it’s good enough for simple stuff. It’s like a glorified tape recorder but the fidelity is so much better” (right)
“This is one of the most expensive picks going for US$10 to US$15 per piece. As you can see, this white pick is thicker than other picks. It’s a Wegen pick by Michel Wegen. This type of pick is used for gypsy jazz. With this, you get better volume even though it’s harder to play.”
“This is my shaver. I use it to look young before going out for gigs” (left). “These are a bunch of my favourite CDs. There’s Charlie Hunter. He used to b signed under Blue Note. I like to listen to Anas Mitchell too, she is a singer-songwriter from Vermont. I’ve got Ani Difranco as well as Punch Brothers. There is this collaboration between Nels Clive and Thurston Moore. This is the type of music I like to listen to. What I miss most about living in the US is to be able to walk to these huge indie music stores” (right)
“I use this to measure how heavy my luggage is because it tends to get overweight when I travel.”
“I got this bottle cap from Berlin when I did my Europe solo tour. I went to a cafe and they had his cola called Fritzkola. I really like the bottle and the bottle cap but I only took the bottle cap because it would be hard to bring the bottle back” (left). “The music pouch is from Greenroom136, a local bag designer. I put my Batt-o-meter here. I also put my tuner and wires in the pouch. It’s my miscellaneous pouch” (right)
“The founder of the G7th brand of capos needed an artiste to endorse his capo. I used it for many years and he actually sent the capo to me. It costs about US$40.”
