Often cited as one of the world’s top fingerstyle, steel-string acoustic guitarists, Grammy finalist Alex de Grassi is renowned for his impeccable technique, innovative artistry and compelling compositions. His career has drawn acclaim for his 14 recordings released by Windham Hill, RCA Novus, Tropo Records, 33rd Street, and other labels, as well as for his live performances as a soloist and within ensemble settings.

His latest release, Now and Then: Folk Songs for the 21st Century (33rd Street Records), is a solo guitar recording featuring contemporary arrangements of 11 treasured tunes from the American standards repertoire. Guest artists Michael Manring and Joe Craven join de Grassi on two tracks. Now and Then is Alex’s attempt to tell a few American stories and weave a musical fabric whose threads reach through time to unite the present with the past...music for now and then. "In rediscovering these songs," he explains, "I came to appreciate the maxim that folk music is a ‘living’ tradition, and that each generation will find relevance and a way to reinterpret these songs. In that spirit, I have arranged traditional melodies to reflect the musical idioms and social climate of today's multi-cultural landscape."

Such a broad and creative vision is to be expected from de Grassi. Born in Yokosuka, Japan, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Alex was exposed from his earliest years to a variety of musical influences. His grandfather led a string quartet and was violinist with the San Francisco Symphony. His father was trained in classical piano, while his mother was a fan of jazz. "The two recordings I heard the most as a child," de Grassi recalls, "were Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 and the Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald version of Porgy & Bess." His first instrument was trumpet, but at age 13 de Grassi switched to guitar and began playing folk and blues and popular music. Early influences include British fingerstyle acoustic guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, American innovators Leo Kottke, John Fahey and Ralph Towner, and much of the rock, pop and jazz music of the Sixties.

De Grassi recorded his first album, Turning: Turning Back, in 1978 for Will Ackerman's start-up Windham Hill label (Acoustic Guitar magazine cites this album among the top ten essential fingerstyle recordings). The overwhelmingly positive response to the album and the follow-up, Slow Circle, launched him on a career as one of the most innovative fingerstyle guitarists and composers of guitar music. Over the years, de Grassi has explored a variety of world music influences, and he has stretched his repertoire to include interpretations of jazz classics and folk melodies from around the world.

His recordings Clockwork, Altiplano, The World’s Getting Loud, and Beyond The Night Sky: Lullabies for Guitar (Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner) feature guest musicians such as Patrick O’Hearn, Zakir Hussein, Luis Conte, Paul McCandless, and Mark Egan.

De Grassi’s trademark is an ability to create a highly orchestrated sound in his solo guitar music. His playing weaves together melody, counter-melody, bass, harmony, rhythm, and cross-rhythms in such a way as to give the feel of various instruments playing together. Using a broad palette of techniques and timbre, and driven by a unique sense of composition, his intricate guitar pieces take the listener beyond the instrument into a complex tapestry of sound.

Alex's tenth recording, The Water Garden (Tropo Records, August 1998), garnered both GRAMMY and Indie Award nominations and was named Crossroads Magazine’s Best Acoustic Instrumental Recording of the year. Shortwave Postcard (Auditorium) was picked as one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s Top CDs of 2002.

De Grassi penned the introduction to the popular coffee-table artbook/reference tome, Custom Guitars: A Complete Guide to Contemporary Custom Guitars (String Letter Publishing). He has published many of his guitar transcriptions with Hal Leonard, Stropes Editions, and numerous guitar magazines. De Grassi is on the boards of the Music for Life Alliance, an organization which brings music into public schools, and the New York Guitar Festival. He has also been a frequent guest teacher at the National Summer Guitar Workshop, the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music, and the Omega Institute.