Renowned for his technique, innovation and compelling compositions, Alex de Grassi is one of the world's top fingerstyle, steel-string acoustic guitarists. A scion of a musical family, born in Japan and raised in the Bay Area, Alex's grandfather led a string quartet and was violinist with the San Francisco Symphony. While influenced by the British folk baroque guitarists, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, as well as by American innovators Leo Kottke and John Fahey and Ralph Towner, Alex's music is equally rooted in the classical and jazz music he absorbed from his family. He established himself as a guitarist and composer in the late 1970s with his classic recording, Turning Back (Windham Hill), which Acoustic Guitar magazine recently cited as one of the top ten "essential fingerstyle recordings" of all time. Alex has stretched his repertoire to include interpretations of jazz classics and folk melodies from around the world. Driven by a unique sense of composition, his intricate guitar pieces take the listener beyond the instrument into a complex tapestry of sound that weaves together melody, counter-melody, bass, harmony, rhythm, and cross-rhythms into a unified whole. In addition to recording, Alex tours extensively throughout the world, and scores music for film, television, theatre, and dance performances. Alex's most recent recordings are Bolivian Blues Bar (Narada Jazz), a collection of jazz standards arranged for solo guitar, and Tatamonk, a collaboration with Chilean musician Quique Cruz that explores the relationship between traditional Andean music and jazz. Franco Morone presents stunning interpretations of blues, jazz, and Irish music, creating soundscapes in which creative melodies predominate. His recent album is entitled Acoustic Guitar Solos.