azsamad's Xanga

A Day at The San Francisco Zoo!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:38:48 GMT

Video from Bazaar Cafe Show

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:40:02 GMT

Ice Cream at Fentons Creamery, Oakland, CA

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:24:52 GMT

Performances this week!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:32:09 GMT

Hi!

I'm performing in a variety of settings this week!

1. Jazz Mine @ King Tsin Restaurant, Berkeley,CA

Performing with Jazz Mine, The San Francisco Bay Area's Premier String Jazz Ensemble!

Date: Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Time: 6:30pm onwards (Two sets of music - usually till about 9pm.)

King Tsin Restaurant
1699 Solano Ave,
Berkeley, CA.

http://jazzmine.net/
http://www.kingtsinrestaurant.com/

There is no cover charge. Great Chinese food including Dim Sum available.

Public transport:
From the Downtown Berkeley BART station, you can take the number 18
bus heading north to Solano Avenue.

----

2. Az Samad Duo (w/Eli Harrison on percussions) @ The Cannery, San Francisco, CA

Date/Time: Saturday, July 5th, 11:30am - 2:30pm

3 sets of music including originals, pop covers and lots of jazz!

The Cannery @ Del Monte Square
2801 Leavenworth St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 333-7077

http://www.delmontesquare.com
--

3. Az Samad & Shelley Leong @ Nomad Cafe, Oakland, CA

Az and Shelley performing originals in both solo and duet settings! 2 sets of acoustic music!

Date: Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Time: 11am-1pm

Nomad Cafe
6500 Shattuck Ave. (at 65th St.)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 595-5344
http://www.nomadcafe.net

-----

Hope to see you there!

Best wishes,
Az

Photos from Teja Gerken's Acoustic Guitar Showcase Anniversary Show 2008

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:45:02 GMT

Az Samad @ Acoustic Guitar Showcase 7th Anniversary Show!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:39:21 GMT

Hi!

I'm performing for this special show tomorrow night! It will be an
exciting night of guitar music with a diverse group of guitarists
performing one or two songs each.

This series has been on for seven years now and is organized by Teja
Gerken. I'm very happy to be part of this show! Do come on by and
spread the word to anyone who loves acoustic guitar music!

Best wishes,
Az
http://www.sonicbids.com/azsamad
http://www.myspace.com/azsamad

Full Details:

Wednesday, June 25h, 7:00PM

Teja Gerken's Acoustic Guitar Showcase
7th Anniversary Show!
Lots of special guests from the long list of previous performers!

Nate Cooper
Dan Gabel
Doug Young
Jeff Hillgrove
Az Samad
Joe Tibodeau
Doug Adamz
Jesse Cutler
Andy Markham
Teddy Rendazzo
Alan Tower

Venue:
Bazaar Cafe
5927 California St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 831-5620
http://www.bazaarcafe.com

http://www.tejagerken.com

on the value of discussion and debate

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:52:37 GMT

i've just recently read a music thread on a forum and came to this conclusion:

there is no one best way of doing something.

there are many different ways to do things and some may be useful more to others than yourself.

for me, the most important thing is to consider the idea and entertain it - see whether it makes sense to you, if not at least you would have given it a chance.

i find that a lot of people are very adamant about their way of doing something - for example how to practice scales or how to learn improvisation. some people believe that their way is the best or the only way of doing it.

the fact is - it might be the best way for them and it alright to share one's discoveries with other people but to force onto others that one way is the only way is really childish.

to me, discussion is only useful to find many different viewpoints to a certain problem or issue. the solution to it is in the end up to the individual facing the problem - if you try out many different things and then find a way that makes sense to you then the discussion has been a fruitful affair.

if the whole debate was to simply uphold one point of view - hence condemning everyone else's perspective, then it is a negative and potentially destructive thing to do.

to think for oneself and to be open to many opposing views at once is a great thing to do.

cheers!
az

vote for my man vignes!

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:03:56 GMT

My friend Vignes has entered one of his photos for JPG magazine's Street Fashion feature. Please vote for it!

Here's the link to the photo page:

http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/686895
Pass the word around too!

Best wishes,
Az

gigs this weekend

Fri, 23 May 2008 12:43:47 GMT

i have two gigs this weekend - one is a solo performance and another is a guest performance with band Planet Loop:

1. Mama Art Cafe

Az Samad Solo Guitar Set
(2-4pm).

No Cover Charge.

4754 Mission St.
S.F. Ca. 94112

http://www.mamasf.com/

2. Octavia Lounge (Guest performer for Planet Loop)

Cover $10

1772 Market St.
San Francisco

http://octavialounge.com/
http://planetloopmusic.com

on a book, the question of forums and haight ashbury

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:01:26 GMT

main point of this post - i just read snuff - the latest book by chuck palahniuk.

now, main point is the book is only out tomorrow.

tomorrow. everywhere.

i got my copy a few days ago at a local bookstore, along with a first edition hardback copy of the alchemist (so the side of me that i got from my dad comes out.) and so, i thought to myself - why haven't i heard of this new book? why didn't i see it at another major bookstore nearby - well, yesterday i finally went online to find out more about it (after finishing the book) and i found out it's not out yet.

i got myself an advance copy! lucky me! so what do i think of the book? well, it's a much lighter and straightforward read compared to rant (which i only recently read) and has all the classic chuck'ism'. A lot of interesting facts and wordplay everywhere. Plot twist are abound and expectations played around with. I love it. What it makes me want to do is reread all his previous books because it's been a while. And I just read from his website is that he just finished the first draft of his next book - pygmy - due out next year. goodie. now, if only i had all my chuck books here - they are all back home in KL. oh well.

on forums: i recently realized that online forums - at least guitar forums tend to be about two major things - technique and gear. i could go on a rant on that but..

it's more important to talk about the haight that i went to on saturday. i've never been there during daytime (like lunch time and all) and I really liked it - plus it was sunny too. all the stores - post hippie memorabilia and i even saw the haight-ashbury music store which i recently found out my Berklee teacher, Curt Shumate used to work there in the late 70s. and the store is still there!

have to go back there sometime soon.

in music performance news, i had a cool gig with shell at the rose street house concert on friday - great fun! and i had a cool gig with Eli on percussions at The Cannery. It's been a while but there's going to be another one tomorrow which should be awesome.

in music learning news - i've been knee-deep in gypsy jazz of late. even got myself a wegen guitar pick. fascinating music.

am off to eat lunch now. will blog again soon.

cheers,
az