Stellar guitarist, Alex de Grassi was born in Yokosuka, Japan and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Inspired by his Grandfather, who was a violinist with the San Francisco Symphony, De Grassi learned to play trumpet and at age 13, discovered guitar, his life long love.
He studied with noted teacher Bill Thrasher and jazz piano with Mark Levine and composition with William Mathieu.
His first recording, Turning: Turning Back in 1978, on Windham Hill Records met with critical acclaim and international attention.
He has performed at such notable venues as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Belfast International Festival, Telluride and Wolftrap.

De Grassi has taught at the National Summer Guitar Workshop, the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music and the Omega Institute - and his own workshop series.

His hands move so fast on that guitar, it looks like magic!


Alex is the subject of a PBS concert/interview television show, Alex de Grassi: The Artist's Profile.

Grammy Award nominee and Indie Award nominee for The Water Garden.

Collaborates with Chilean multi-instrumentalist Quique Cruz in the band Tatamonk and with experimental guitarist g.e. stinson.