Electric Violin World Jazz: The Guarneri Underground

Guarneri Underground Masthead

Welcome to The Guarneri Underground web site. From its beginnings in 1995 with John Schussler and Geoffrey Castle doing a violin duo to its last incarnation as a six-piece world fusion powerhouse featuring Beth Quist and Mohammed Shaibu, the Guarneri Underground was a flowing, changing, organic group - never staying in one place.

And so it continues, with the latest chapter now open, and a return to our roots.

Moving forward we've retired the name "The Guarneri Underground," and are identifying our music with names a bit less clever, a bit more clear: John Schussler and Geoffrey Castle. We continue to write music and collaborate in the studio, and as new releases become available you'll hear about them here. You'll also see re-releases of New World and Captive minus the Guarneri name, since demand for those albums continues to this day.

But fear not, fans of live performance: Geoffrey is actively performing, both solo and with his new group that we're sure you'll be seeing a lot more of: The Geoffrey Castle Band. The band is an all-star original violin-driven rock event. Featuring Mike Derosier and Roger Fisher, the original drummer and guitarist of the multi-platinum classic rock group Heart, Lennox Holness from Jamaica on bass, and Geoffrey Castle on violin, the G.C.B. rocks every house they play.

You can find all the details on the Geoffrey Castle Band, including the latest performance schedule, here:

(link to come)

Want to see more about other projects from Geoffrey and John? Visit our Biography page!

The Guarneri Underground thanks you for 8 years of fantastic support, and Geoffrey and John look forward to many more years of sharing their music with you.

The Guarneri Underground

Contacting Us

Email:
Jeffrey Sick - jksick@aol.com

Snail mail:

The Guarneri Underground
c/o Twisted Fiddle Music
P.O. Box 183
Kirkland, WA 98083

Join the Guarneri Underground mailing list

Simply send us an email with the following subject line: "GUMailing List Addition: [your email address]". We'll let you know about upcoming concerts, new releases, and other Guarneri Underground news. No junk mail, no high traffic, just those nuggets of Guarneri Underground info you can't live without.

Guarneri, Giuseppe "del Gesu"
1687 - 1744

One of the greatest Italian violin makers, Giuseppe "del Gesu" Guarneri (pronounced gwar-NAIR-ee) followed in the footsteps of Stradivarius where great tone was concerned, but created violins with even bolder and more freely-carved designs.

The Guarneri Underground takes its name and inspiration from "del Gesu," with one eye on fine craftsmanship, and the other on freedom of invention.