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Reza Manzoori was born in the year of the fire horse in Shiraz, Iran, a city
famous for its wine, rose gardens, and poetry. He remembers an early affinity
for music and rhythm, but didn't begin playing until rather late in life at 17
when he found an old guitar belonging to his sister in the basement of the house
they lived in. The guitar had only the three treble strings. Still, this was
more than enough to work with. "The first chord I ever learned was a D chord and
I think it was because the guitar only had those three strings".
A Segovia cassette was another inspiration. "Finding a Segovia album in post-revolution
Iran was not at all impossible, however to me it was more than a call to the
understanding of the guitar. It was a call to the understanding of music itself.
I realized that the guitar wasn't the instrument, but that music was, and the
guitar was simply a tool for the instrument of Music."
Upon arriving to the United States Reza enrolled in Los Angeles Valley College.
Throughout his attendance there he held first chair in both the LAVC Guitar
Ensemble and the Monarch Guitar Quartet, an extension of the guitar department
headed by Robert G. Mayeur. "Performing (solos) was a great lesson for me.
Knowing that I had nothing but the music to play allowed me to forget that I was
all alone up there."
His musical experiences are wide and varied. "I wanted to be a great guitar
player, but more than that I wanted to be a great musician. And so music in all
its forms became appealing to me. I thank my sister for leaving me that old
guitar with three strings, and the Creator for blessing my ears. I sometimes
wonder what might have happened had it been a didgeridoo."
Reza currently resides with his family in North Hollywood, California.
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![[Reza Nation by Reza Manzoori]](/music/Reza%20Manzoori/Reza%20Nation/cover_200.webp "Reza Nation by Reza Manzoori")
Reza Nation
![[ReStrung by Reza Manzoori]](/music/Reza%20Manzoori/ReStrung/cover_200.webp "ReStrung by Reza Manzoori")
ReStrung
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