HE may look cool and laidback but when he lets his fingers do the talking on the acoustic guitar, the result is a succession of beautiful tone poems.
Known for his prowess and finesse on the six-stringed wooden instrument, Az Samad is always looking for new musical adventures through collaborations to express his creativity.
“In every of my musical collaborations, I feel this collective desire to search beyond what’s in our comfort zone and to try something that will challenge us,” says the soft-spoken and bespectacled musician during an interview in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.
Having worked on a cross-discipline collaboration with actor/spoken word artiste Davina Goh, Az explains that it took time to be fully formed but the results were more epic than initially expected.
Another memorable collaboration was with long time friend Richard Moss, a British multi-instrumentalist and singer.
“I met him in 2003 when we attended Eric Roche’s guitar workshop in Devon, Britain,” he says.
Last year, Az had the opportunity to spend several days playing music with Moss, culminating in a joint performance together for an art exhibition launch.
“This year, for my solo European tour in June-July, we’re also planning another show together,” says the 30-something Berklee-trained guitarist.
SATAY TRIO
His latest project is a collaboration with fellow Malaysians, Fung Chern Hwei, a New York-based multi-genre violinist, and Brooklyn-based vocalist Cheryl Tan.
According to Az, Fung had messaged him via Facebook and wanted to perform A Lotus On Irish Streams, a John McLaughlin song from The Mahavishnu Orchestra, together.
“We’d never met but we knew of each other through mutual friends,” he says. “Since he was in New York, we had to wait till he was back for Chinese New Year.”
He says that Fung was easy to work with and blew him away at their first rehearsal session with his amazing musicality.
“Then my manager suggested adding Cheryl since it would be interesting to have vocals in the mix,” says Az, who had worked with her on last year’s Malaysian Music Project.
He adds: “She’s like this musical encyclopaedia of song lyrics and melodies, with a great voice and quirky sense of humour, which really makes it fun to perform together.”
For tonight’s The Satay Trio concert, Az will bring his distinctive style — a mix of fingerstyle guitar, jazz, classical and folk influences — to the music.
He explains that the repertoire for the concert will be a varied selection of originals and covers with an acoustic feel and lots of improvisation. “It’s beautiful music that everyone can enjoy, even if you’re not a musician.”
Numbering around 15, the songs include Malaysian classics Getaran Jiwa and Yang Indah (music by Saidah Rastam and lyrics by Khir Rahman).
When looking for collaborators, Az lays his conditions out simply with: “Low drama, high musicality.”
“I look for people with a very strong vision, confidence and personality, just creative people with interesting ideas,” he says.
PERFORMER-COMPOSER-EDUCATOR
Having performed in the US, Europe and Asia, Az says: “As a performer, it’s the most expressive thing I do, to share the music with an audience.”
“There’s a certain kind of magic in playing and listening to music live,” says the unassuming guitarist, who has performed as a classical guitar soloist with, and as part of, the MPO in several concerts at DFP in KL. (Catch him with the MPO this weekend for the Abba Goes Symphonic concert). He was also the opening act for concerts by Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor.
“Composing is a way of discovering my musical identity,” says Az who has appeared on 16 CDs (seven of which are his solo releases) and has worked with the likes of Grammy winners Flaco Jimenez and Max Baca, drummer Bernie Dresel (Brian Setzer Orchestra), singer-songwriter Tara Linda and guitarist Adam Rafferty, to name a few.
As an educator, the KL-based guitarist is happy to give back to the musical community. “I’ve been very fortunate to study with so many great musicians here and internationally and by passing on the knowledge to my students, I hope they’ll become amazing musicians who’ll enrich whatever music scene they’re a part of,” he says.
Az has been on the faculty of Berklee College of Music’s Summer Guitar Sessions and has taught workshops at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, as well as many other venues.
He’ll be holding workshops and performing from March 9-11 at the Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore.
“All these different aspects combine to make my music experience richer,” says Az of his role as performer-composer and educator.
LOCAL INDIE SCENE
“I’ve been a part of the local indie scene since 2003 and there are many more open mic events now and much more variety in terms of acts,” says Az, who has been hosting his own open mic sessions at the Venue in Pavilion since September last year.
He credits the YouTube generation who have grown up by uploading videos online.
“The good thing is that they’re all constantly recording their music now and reaching out to a bigger audience.”
He also notes that the more established acts like Reza Salleh and Liyana Fizi are reaching out further with performances and tours overseas.
“The singer-songwriter scene is getting braver collectively and this is a good thing — we’re aiming bigger and achieving bigger things.”
GUITAR LOVE
Az confesses that the guitar has always intrigued him.
“It’s got a shorter history compared to the piano or violin but it has influenced so many styles of music,” he says.
The son of National Laureate A. Samad Said, Az got into guitar playing after discovering US grunge rock band Nirvana’s Unplugged In New York album.
Upon his dad’s suggestion, he took up classical guitar and later jazz learning under various teachers.
Quoting virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist Andres Segovia who said that the guitar is a small orchestra, Az is happy that there are so many facets to the instrument.
On the one thing most people don’t know about Az Samad, he quickly replies: “I play the electric guitar too!”
The versatile guitarist has been dividing his time between acoustic and electric since his student days in the US, from 2005 onwards.
“My latest work, The Amsterdam Recordings, is a solo electric guitar album and I’ve also just recorded a new all solo electric release, that’s coming up soon.” (visit www.azsamad.com for details).
Az, the cool and laidback guitar hero
Andy Griggs’ 2013 album, Naked. Photo courtesy of Webster & Associates.