Ex-MEGADETH Guitarist JEFF YOUNG Taking Leave Of Absence From Teaching At Musician's Institute

Former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young has issued the following update:

"First off, I wish to thank everyone for their interest in private guitar instruction. I didn't expect such an overwhelming response! And thanks again for your patience regarding my delayed response.

I will be taking a leave of absence from teaching at Musician's Institute/GIT at the conclusion of this quarter. However, I'm excited to announce that I will be giving private lessons, master classes, workshops and in-store appearances in various locales, hopefully, near you.

"The primary states & cities where i will be dividing my time include:

* California (Los Angles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco)
* Florida (Sarasota, Tampa, Miami, Orlando)
* Ohio (Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland)

"If you live in any of these regions and want to schedule lessons, please don't hesitate to contact me via this MySpace profile page to schedule a personal consultation.

"I will be in other regions as well so if you are interested in lessons let me know... I may be coming to your town!!

"If you happen to be a promoter or organizer of a guitar workshop anywhere in the the world, I offer a wide variety of custom guitar workshop programs touching on diverse styles and techniques. Please contact me via this MySpace profile page for all bookings and further information.

"If you are a music store owner or manager and wish to schedule and in-store appearance, I have several creative options available. Please contact me via this MySpace profile page for all bookings and further information.

"I also just launched Internet lesson support via a private MySpace Zen Guitar Quest page. Through this portal, willing students may access lessons in a variety of ways including: video, audio, blog and photo lesson scans. This site is ever evolving and expanding. More on that later... Stay tuned.

"I look forward to sharing a long-standing educational, magical & musical journey with each of you. So, here's to eternal learning... let's have at it!!"

Jeff's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!" Following his stint with MEGADETH, Jeff began contributing the "Fingerprints" column for Guitar magazine. For a portion of the 1990s, Jeff stepped away from his career to deal with the untimely deaths of first his father and later his mother while immersing himself in the further study of classical, flamenco, gypsy jazz and other world music varieties. In 1998, he resurfaced with new Brazilian musical partner, Badi Assad. Together, the duo crafted exotic soundscapes for their first collaboration, BADI ASSAD's "Chameleon". The album, co-written, arranged, and produced by Jeff, introduced their acoustic-world-fusion sounds to diverse audiences worldwide. Opening concerts for renowned artists, including Joe Cocker and Cassandra Wilson, as well as performances on 1999's Lilith Fair and Farm Aid 2000, are testament to the considerable cross-over appeal of Badi and Jeff's "new world music" explorations. In 2003, the track "Waves" from "Chameleon" was featured in the Michael and Kirk Douglas film "It Runs in the Family", as well as on the movie's soundtrack.