After a year-long U.S. tour, Matt Venuti is back in the Bay Area! He will perform tonight with John Steiner on Keys/bass, Rob Michael and Richard Michos on guitars plus a few other members of his long-time ensemble, The Venusians.
Matt Venuti is an artist who defies simple categorization. He’s a singer-songwriter, a band-leader, a one-man ensemble and modern day troubadour who tours nearly year-round. He’s a masterful instrumentalist known for playing rare and captivating acoustic and electronic instruments. He’s also a video-artist/producer, a poet and storyteller. Matt’s lyrics tell a story from “the rhythm of life” and “the heart of the road”…an honest, soul-filled and often humorous musical journey that forges a lasting connection between Matt and his audiences. The music can be described as mystical and entrancing; beautifully melodic with hypnotic grooves.
“A soul-stirring Maestro who invokes the essence of love into his music” -Jill Lawson, Huffington Post
Matt plays rare and captivating melodic-percussive acoustic instruments created in Switzerland, as well as the highly expressive and dynamic Electronic Valve Instrument (EVI) wind synthesizer. He was among the earliest players to explore both of these instrument genres and share them with the world.
Matt has a history of performing at progressive events and diverse venues throughout the Americas and occasionally abroad, including multiple performances at the TED and TEDx conferences. He tours extensively, performing over 100 solo concerts per year. He also performs with his San Francisco-based ensembles, The Venusians, who are veterans of major festival stages and gala events.
John Steiner Originally from New York City, John began his professional career as a keyboardist for the pop singing group New Edition. In 1985, the band – and John – went west to Los Angeles; it was there that he met longtime friend and collaborator J S Kingfisher, who later produced John’s three piano recordings, Out of the Blue, Into the Green and Impressions.
John moved to San Francisco in 1989, where he earned a B.A. in Music from San Francisco State University. He is the composer and pianist for the San Francisco Center for Spiritual Living, and the First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael. He has three piano collections on the Philomuse label: Out of the Blue, Into the Green, and Impressions.
