Paul Anastasio at Point Richmond First United Methodist Church

Point Richmond Jazz returns for our THIRD season of the best in Jazz Violin from AROUND THE WORLD! Paul Anastasio is a rare link to arguably the first and finest Jazz Violinist of all-time: Joe Venuti.

A rare opportunity to perform and study with the legendary jazz violinist Joe Venuti in the mid-1970s did much to assist Paul in his pursuit of excellence as a performer of vintage jazz.

Paul Anastasio began studying the violin at age nine. Initially classically trained, he soon began exploring the worlds of American popular and folk music, performing as part of a bluegrass band and competing in fiddle contests while still in his teens. After his stint with Venuti, he began working on the road with country music legend Merle Haggard. This was to be the first of several jobs he would work with top western swing and country music bands including Asleep at the Wheel, Larry Gatlin, Ray Price and Loretta Lynn. He is perhaps best known in the Bay Area for his work with the Western Swing band "Lost Weekend."...

read more

Point Richmond Jazz returns for our THIRD season of the best in Jazz Violin from AROUND THE WORLD! Paul Anastasio is a rare link to arguably the first and finest Jazz Violinist of all-time: Joe Venuti.

A rare opportunity to perform and study with the legendary jazz violinist Joe Venuti in the mid-1970s did much to assist Paul in his pursuit of excellence as a performer of vintage jazz.

Paul Anastasio began studying the violin at age nine. Initially classically trained, he soon began exploring the worlds of American popular and folk music, performing as part of a bluegrass band and competing in fiddle contests while still in his teens. After his stint with Venuti, he began working on the road with country music legend Merle Haggard. This was to be the first of several jobs he would work with top western swing and country music bands including Asleep at the Wheel, Larry Gatlin, Ray Price and Loretta Lynn. He is perhaps best known in the Bay Area for his work with the Western Swing band "Lost Weekend."

Joining Paul will be Tony Marcus, on guitar. Tony has long been a presence on the San Francisco Bay Area acoustic music scene. From a start playing traditional folk music, (Laurie Lewis and Kate Brislin were his bandmates for a time) he has switched to the jazzier sounds of recent years (Leftover Dreams, Cats & Jammers, etc.) playing guitar, violin and other stringed instruments as well as vocalizing.

He is often called on to do clinics and workshops in swing guitar and vocal harmonizing and arranging These have included the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, International Guitar Seminars, California Coast Music Camp, Augusta Heritage Workshops and more. He has also had lessons and articles published in Acoustic Guitar magazine. Tony has been a member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders since 1979, and toured Europe with them twice. He has performed theatre music on stage at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Rep, Denver Center Theatre, Barter Theatre, Virginia Stage Co., Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and many others.

Other performers with whom he has performed or recorded include Geoff Muldaur, Kate Wolf, The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, The Swing Session, Frank Wakefield, The Sons of the San Joaquin, Sylvia Herold, Marley's Ghost, Rose Maddox, Patsy Montana, Lost Weekend Western Swing Band and many others. His joy in playing music s infectious for audiences everywhere he goes!

Point Richmond Jazz audiences will remember his sitting in with Sylvia Herold and Julian Smedley in last year's series.

show less