Master of the Strings Has the World at His Fingertips

The first instruments Waleed Hamad ever played were, unfortunately, his mother’s china dishes. “I used to break them all,” he said.

But the Kuwaiti native now plays Chinese gongs instead--and the accordion, xylophone, Indian tamboura, African jimbe, Guatemalan ton, the Middle Eastern oud, piano, banjo and other percussion and string instruments whose names he can’t recall off the top of his head.

Appropriately, Hamad’s new group is called “World Acoustic Fusion.” Composed of Hamad, jazz-rock guitarist Jim Stubblefield, guitarist Karl Montevirgen (who joined a month ago) and including guest artists, the group will perform at the Folk Music Center in Claremont this weekend.

Hamad and Stubblefield got together in May after meeting at a party where Hamad was playing the oud, a fretless, 10-string Middle Eastern guitar. “Jim likes to explore,” Hamad said. “He’s done rock and jazz and he wanted to expand his horizons.”

The two began rehearsing songs and playing at the Claremont Colleges (Hamad, 28, is a graduate student of economics at Claremont). They recently released a self-produced album, “In Cerca D’Amore” (“In Search of Love”).

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The concerts at the Folk Music Center will feature the group’s blend of Middle Eastern, Latin, African, Spanish, rock, blues, jazz and Chinese acoustic music, including a last-minute song Hamad conceived to fill up four minutes of blank space on a demo tape. Called “Voices,” the song features people singing in several different languages.

Other guest artists will play Middle Eastern percussion, drums, flutes and the Australian didgeridoo.

“Diversity is what my life is all about,” Hamad said. “It makes life fun.”

World Acoustic Fusion will perform on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Folk Music Center, 220 Yale Ave., Claremont. Tickets are $10. Information: (909) 624-2928.