Alex de Grassi

Alex de Grassi (born February 13, 1952 in Yokosuka , Japan ) is an American fingerstyle guitarist who has released numerous trend-setting albums over the past thirty years.

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Alex de Grassi was born in Japan, but grew up in San Francisco , California . He studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley . After taking the exam, he turned to music. He was a street musician in London for a while until he released his first album through his cousin Will Ackermann in 1978 on his Windham Hill label. Since then he has released over 15 albums on various labels and also founded his own label Tropo Records . His album The Water Garden was nominated for both a Grammy Award and an Indie Award . In addition to his solo works, he has worked with the Chilean multi-instrumentalist Quique Cruz in the band Tatamonk and with the experimental guitarist GE Stinson. De Grassi organizes workshops and gives lessons as well as concerts that take him to several continents. In addition to his solo projects, he is touring with the group DEMANIA consisting of de Grassi, bassist Michael Ma nring and the percussionist Christopher Garc ia is.

Alex de Grassi now lives in the Redwood Valley near Ukiah , the capital of Mendocino County , California .

Musical influences and background

De Grassi was exposed to musical influences from an early age: his father was a classical pianist, his grandfather a violinist in the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra . At 13 he learned the trumpet and soon after taught himself to play the guitar. De Grassi later learned jazz piano with Mark Levine and studied composition with William Mathieu and guitar with Bill Thrasher . During his time at the Windham Hill label, he met the guitarist Michael Hedges , with whom he had a long friendship and who influenced him stylistically. De Grassi, however, has developed his own style, which is recognizable after a short listening to one of his pieces.

Playing technique

De Grassi is described by many fingerstyle guitarists as one of the most virtuoso of his genre. His style is characterized by fast runs and arpeggios . He often uses open moods . De Grassi's compositions are characterized by unusual melodies and harmonies. One of his stylistic devices is the cautious use of percussive techniques by using the guitar body as drums in various ways.

Instruments and technical equipment

De Grassi mainly plays custom-made guitars. His main guitar is currently a Custom Lowden F35c made of maple with a cedar top and a Custom Traugott R made of Brazilian rosewood with a cedar top. In addition to these guitars, he plays a custom McCollum baritone guitar (with a 28-inch scale) made of Paduk with a cedar top and a custom Carlson Sympitar made of maple with a cedar top.

De Grassi generally uses an AKG 460 condenser microphone with a heart-shaped pickup pattern at concerts . He rarely uses a pickup that he connects to the amplifier system via a Raven Lab preamplifier.

Discography

Audio

• 1978 Turning: Turning Back (Windham Hill)
• 1979 Slow Circle (Windham Hill)
• 1981 Clockwork (Windham Hill)
• 1984 Southern Exposure (Windham Hill)
• 1987 Altiplano (RCA / Novus)
• 1991 Deep at Night (Windham Hill)
• 1992 A Windham Hill Retrospective (Windham Hill)
• 1993 The World's Getting Loud (Windham Hill)
• 1996 Beyond the Night Sky: Lullabies for Guitar (EarthBeat!)
• 1997 Alex de Grassi's Interpretation of Simon & Garfunkel (NorthSound)
• 1998 Alex de Grassi's Interpretation of James Taylor (NorthSound)
• 1998 The Water Garden (Tropo Records TRD1001)
• 1999 Bolivian Blues Bar (Narada)
• 2000 Tatamonk (Tropo Records)
• 2001 Shortwave Postcard (Auditorium)
• 2003 Now and Then: Folk Songs for the 21st Century (33rd Street), with Michael Manring
• 2005 Windham Hill Presents: PURE - Alex de Grassi (Windham Hill)
• 2006 DEMANIA - de Grassi, Manring, Garcia (Tropo Records)
• 2008 Harp Guitar Dreams (Harp Guitar Music)
• 2008 As You Drift Away: Lullabies (re-release of "Beyond the Night Sky") Music for Little People
• 2010 A Windham Hill Retrospective (Windham Hill)

Audio, compilations

Information from and

• 1981 Windham Hill Records Sampler '81
• 1982 Windham Hill Records Sampler '82
• 1983 An Evening With Windham Hill Live
• 1984 Windham Hill Records Sampler '84
• 1985 An Invitation to Windham Hill
• 1990 Windham Hill: The First Ten Years (disc 1)
• 1991 Windham Hill Guitar Sampler Volume II
• 1992 The Impressionists: A Windham Hill Sampler
• 1993 A Winter's Solstice IV
• 1994 Windham Hill Sampler '94
• 1994 The Bach Variations
• 1995 Select Sounds 1995
• 1995 A Winter's Solstice V
• 1995 Winter Resonance: Selections from A Winter's Solstice V / Celtic Christmas / By the Fireside
• 1996 Healing: Renew
• 1996 Sanctuary: 20 Years of Windham Hill (disc 1)
• 1997 Acoustic Heart: The Passion and Romance of Acoustic Guitar Masters
• 1997 The White Album: A Windham Hill Collection
• 1998 A Winter Solstice Reunion
• 1998 Yoga Zone: Music for Yoga Practice
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics: Morning
• 2000 Windham Hill Classics: Journeys
• 2002 A Windham Hill Christmas
• 2003 Windham Hill Chill 2 (disc 2: Acoustic)
• 2003 A Windham Hill Christmas II
• 2005 A Windham Hill Christmas: The Night Before Christmas
• 2005 A Quiet Revolution: 30 Years of Windham Hill
• 2006 Revenge of Blind Joe Death: The John Fahey Tribute Album

DVD, video

• 1998 Adventures in Fingerstyle Guitar: The Techniques and Arrangements of Alex de Grassi (Homespun Tapes)
• 1998 The Artist's Profile: Alex de Grassi (Ecliptic Productions)
• 1998 Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night (Homespun Tapes)
• 2004 The Six String Workshop (Malone Media Group / Tropo Records)
• 2006 Great Guitar Lessons: Alex de Grassi, Muriel Anderson, and Frederic Hand (Homespun Tapes)
• 2007 Alex de Grassi in Concert (Mel Bay Records)

Notes, books

• Alex de Grassi Guitar Collection (1988). Hal Leonard Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7935-0303-2
• Windham Hill Guitar Sampler (1994). Hal Leonard Publishing HL00694888, ISBN 0-7935-2488-1
• Portraits of Christmas for Fingerstyle Guitar (1996). John August / Mel Bay, ISBN 978-0-7866-2669-4
• Custom Guitars (2000). String Letter Publishing, ISBN 978-1-890490-29-4
• Alternate Tunings Guitar Collection, Volume 7 (2000). String Letter Publishing, ISBN 978-1-890490-27-0
• The Best Of Alex de Grassi (2006). Hal Leonard Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4234-0724-9
• 3 Themes for Steel-String Guitar, String Quartet, and String Orchestra: Solo Guitar Part and Score by Jeremy Cohen and Alex de Grassi (2007). String Letter Publishing, ISBN 978-1-890490-68-3

Individual evidence

1. ^ Website of the inventor of the Sympitar, Fred Carlson (en.) Accessed November 6, 2007
2. ↑ Windham Hill Album Discography. Retrieved November 4, 2007
3. ↑ Alex de Grassi - discography at MusicBrainz. Retrieved November 4, 2007

literature

• Judie Eremo: New Age Musicians. From the Pages of Guitar Player, Keyboard, and Frets magazines . Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation et al., Milwaukee WI et al. 1989, ISBN 0-88188-909-1 .
• John August Schroeter: Between the Strings. The secret lives of guitars . John August Music, Colorado Springs CO 2004, ISBN 0-9749737-0-X , p. 196.

Web links

• Works by and about Alex de Grassi in the catalog of the German National Library
• The official website of Alex de Grassi
• The history of the Windham Hill label
• Article about de Grassis "13 Happy Years"
• Alex de Grassi by Anil Prasad