Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Matthew Montfort of Ancient Future Featured on Rachel Maddow Show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/28/2010
Contact: info@ancient-future.com

Matthew Montfort of Ancient Future Featured on Rachel Maddow Show

Kent Jones Reports on the Strange Instruments Played at the Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival in San Francisco


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Matthew Montfort Showcases Unusual Guitars at Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival

TV Screen Shot of Matthew Montfort Performing on Rachel Maddow Show

Matthew Montfort, guitarist and bandleader of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future, was interviewed and performed on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC on Friday, September 24th, 2010.

Kent Jones, the Rachel Maddow Show's pop-culturist, was in San Francisco September 23rd and 24th to cover the opening of the Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival. Matthew Montfort kicked off the festival by showcasing his unusual guitars: the Godin Glissentar, an 11 string fretless guitar, and the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments characteristic of the sitar.

Matthew Montfort Interviewed on Rachel Maddow Show

TV Screen Shot of Matthew Montfort Demonstrating the Glissentar on the Rachel Maddow Show

The “Just Enough” with Kent Jones segment airs during the last few minutes of the Rachel Maddow Show and aims to provide viewers with just enough pop culture news. During the sound check for the festival, Kent Jones interviewed the musicians and played many of the instruments himself. After sound check, Kent Jones and his cameraman videotaped the entire opening night of the festival.

The September 24th, 2010 “Just Enough” segment features Kent Jones trying out some of the unusual instruments at sound check along with interviews with Matthew Montfort and some of the other Music for People and Thingamajig Festival performers. Montfort was asked to demonstrate the unique musical features of the Godin Glissentar.

Ancient Future Duet featuring Matthew Montfort and Bui Huu Nhut Performs on Rachel Maddow Show

TV Screen Shot of Matthew Montfort and Bui Huu Nhut Performing on the Rachel Maddow Show

A selection from Matthew Montfort's Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival performance was the only music from the festival that was featured on the Rachel Maddow show. Montfort performed his piece, “Purple Raga,” from his Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar recording, but in this unusual arrangement, he was accompanied at the end by Bui Huu Nhut, a master of the dan bau, a traditional Vietnamese single string instrument with an indigenous version of a whammy bar. Bui Huu Nhut is well known to fans of Ancient Future from his performance of “Jah Nam” on Ancient Future's Asian Fusion recording, which was also featured on the Putumayo sampler, Asian Lounge. The two performed a spontaneous improvisation based on the guitar solo section of “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. They received a standing ovation from the festival audience.

Matthew Montfort's “Purple Raga”

Download Guitar Player Magazine Story on Matthew MontfortDownload Guitar Player Magazine Story on Matthew Montfort
5 Page Guitar Player Magazine/GuitarPlayer.com Media Report (1.4 MB):
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/MatthewMontfortGuitarPlayerMag.pdf

For those interested in learning more about Montfort's “Purple Raga” piece, the December 2009 collectible commemorative Les Paul issue of Guitar Player Magazine includes a full page feature with a photo of Matthew Montfort superimposed over psychedelic artwork portraying Jimi Hendrix and an interview with Montfort about the scalloped fretboard guitar, Indian raga, and his thoughts about the relationship of Indian raga to the music of Jimi Hendrix. The story includes a link to a GuitarPlayer.com online lesson created by Matthew Montfort, entitled “The Music of Jimi Hendrix Applied to Indian Raga,” which explains the musical concepts behind the “Purple Raga” track on Montfort's debut solo CD, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar.

GuitarPlayer.Com Video: “Purple Raga”

Guitar Player Video
Embed code available at: http://www.guitarplayer.com/story.aspx?id=100631&terms=montfort

GuitarPlayer.com is hosting a video of Matthew Montfort performing his “Purple Raga” composition live at Ancient Future's 30th Anniversary Concert on a Godin Glissentar, the 11 string fretless guitar endorsed by Montfort. It is the first recording available of Montfort performing on the Glissentar.

Matthew Montfort Bio

Photo of Matthew Montfort
Hi-Res Photo of Matthew Montfort by Julie Marten (2 MB, 300 dpi 4.3 x 6.5):
http://www.ancient-future.com/images/matthewmontfort600.jpg

As leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort has devoted himself to the scalloped fretboard guitar since 1978. He spent years of study with some of the world's best musicians, including North Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan and vina master K.S. Subramanian, with whom he did an intensive study of South Indian note-bending techniques. He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra in Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenons Zakir Hussain and Swapan Chaudhuri, sitar master Pandit Habib Khan, Carnatic saxophone legend Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui.

Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar

Seven Serenades CD Cover

Matthew Montfort(>audio)

Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort.(AF 2008). $17.98: Buy Link.

The debut recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments characteristic of the sitar.

“This unusual guitar album brings together world instruments to complement the scalloped fretboard guitar. Starting with 'Gauri the Golden,' an improvisational piece drawing heavily on Indian raga, this is an intriguing collection of the resulting compositions. In fact, the entire CD is based on improvisation and includes one tune with an ancient Celtic theme, which Montfort suggests has many parallels 'to the Vedic tradition.' I must admit that sometimes ragas played by guitar players seem to wander on forever, changing a note here and there and weaving a kind of slow, hypnotic journey. However, this guitar work is stunning, intricate and wonderfully melodic. If you are looking for good listening and something different for your CD shelf, this is it. But don’t go carving up your fretboard until you've really figured this out.” — J.W. McClure, from review of Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, VICTORY REVIEW ACOUSTIC MUSIC MAGAZINE, April, 2010.

Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Seven Serenades (912 k):
http://www.ancient-future.com/images/serenade300dpi.jpg
One Sheet for Seven Serenades with Streaming Audio:
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_1sheet_dig.pdf
Liner Notes for Seven Serenades:
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_digital_liner_notes.pdf

Bui Huu Nhut Bio

Photo of Bui Huu Nhut

Bui Huu Nhut (pronounced “buoy who newt”) is a leading performer on the dan bau, an instrument of purely Vietnamese origin. Its single string is stretched over a long box, attached to a tuning peg at one end, and to a flexible rod (which holds a resonating gourd) at the other. Its sound is said to “find its way into the secret places of the soul.” A native of Saigon, Mr. Bui has lived in the U.S. since 1989. He performs in traditional Vietnamese groups and with several ensemble variations of Ancient Future, including the Asian Fusion Dance Ensemble Program.

Video of Entire “Just Enough” with Kent Jones Segment 9/24/2010


To replay video, refresh page.Embed code available at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39352511#39352511

Entire Transcript

Rachel Maddow: So here's the bad news. On the day that we find out that a fist fight broke out in the stands between a man and two women no less, while Sharron Angle was speaking at a candidate forum in Nevada, on the day that Stephen Colbert braids performance art and politics together so tightly that he almost pops immigration reform out of Congress with the sheer pressure of his wit, on the day we actually get in the mail the stink mailer from the crazy Carl for Governor campaign in New York, the piece of direct mail scented with the smell of land fill, on the day when we most need a man of Kent Jones' talents to make sense of the world around us, Kent is on vacation. That's the bad news. We need him. He's gone. The good news is that it turns out that Kent does some freaky crazy weird stuff on vacation and then pops into a studio to tell us about it. Kent, did you seriously do what I heard you did today?

Kent Jones: Ah, well, I mean this depends on what you think it is that I “did” today. I'm in San Francisco and I think that I helped the people of San Francisco advance music to the next level.

Rachel Maddow: OK.

Kent Jones: That's what I think I was doing today. So, may I present the Festival of Music for People and Thingamajigs.

(Ancient Future musicians Matthew Montfort and Bui Huu Nhut perform on fretless guitar and dan bau)

Kent Jones: This is a guitar, but not like one we know. Tell me about this.

Matthew Montfort: Right, this guitar actually has no frets on it. And so it's basically a combination of an oud and a guitar.

Kent Jones: You told me that these are skatch boxes. What is that?

Tom Nunn: Skatch box is a kind of instrument that comes out of a technique called skatching. And skatching is basically taking a shaped comb and scraping it across a surface.

(Tom Nunn and David Michalak playing their scatch boxes)

Kent Jones: And that's what it sounds like inside my head.

Gretchen Jude: This is a koto, a traditional Japanese instrument. And this is a photo koto. They react to light in a way you will hear when I play.

Kent Jones: Could you play a little bit for me, please?

Gretchen Jude: Of course. Actually, your cameraman can play?

Kent Jones: What? How does that work?

Gretchen Jude: OK. The light comes in here. Ready?

(Sound of photo koto reacting to the camera light)

Kent Jones: That was my cameraman playing the photo koto. It's a first.

Terry Berlier: This one is used from recycled pan lids and this is called the percussion ball. Each hole has a different length tube in it. So the longest one is about ten feet long. And so the length of the tube determines the pitch or the note you're getting.

Kent Jones: Thank you, good night!

Rachel Maddow: Kent, if you come back to the office without that thing, that makes noise when you hit it with light, I'll be very angry.

Kent Jones: I'm going to need a bigger desk, I'm just saying right now.

Rachel Maddow: And also maybe a larger overhead compartment for the flight home...but...

Kent Jones: That goes without saying.

Rachel Maddow: Thank you, Kent. Happy vacation.

Kent Jones: Thank you.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Ancient-Future.Com Title Selected for Baker & Taylor Spotlight on Jazz Brochure

Ancient-Future.Com Records Title Selected for Baker & Taylor Spotlight on Jazz Brochure



Sangria by Mariah Parker on Ancient-Future.Com Records has been selected for the Baker & Taylor Spotlight on Jazz Brochure. This retail program coincides with Jazz Appreciation Month (April) and Jazz Fest in New Orleans (April 23 - May 2). Sangria will be sale priced from 4/5/2010 to 5/2/2010 and will be featured in a color flyer insert in the 4/5/2010 issue of Baker & Taylor Spotlight and the April issue of Alert, a library mailer. The flyer will be sent to 8,500 retail and library accounts, and featured on websites.


Sangria by Mariah Parker: An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience



Sangria CD CoverSangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017). $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio). Mariah Parker - Sangria Mariah Parker blends the driving rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz with the complex rhythmic cycles of East India. Her original compositions draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. Her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble includes a stellar lineup of musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters: Matthew Montfort, trailblazing pioneer of scalloped fretboard guitar (an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar); Paul McCandless, 2-time Grammy Award nominee and woodwind virtuoso; Kash Killion, bass player and multi-instrumentalist with Sun Ra Arkestra; Mindia Devi Klein, award-winning composer and flutist; Duru Demetrius, latin percussionist with Herbie Hancock; Anuradha Pal, world's premiere female tabla player; Debopriyo Sarkar, tabla virtuoso whose recent tours include Kronos Quartet; and Brian Rice, versatile percussionist with players such as Mike Marshall.


Quotes and Bio


Sangria blends the rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz music with the entrancing, asymmetrical meters of East Indian rhythms resulting in first-class world music.” — LATIN BEAT MAGAZINE



“Dazzling debut... Parker's subtle and sensuous sounds reflect exotic flavors of India, the Middle East and Latin America.” — PALO ALTO DAILY NEWS


“This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.” — AUDIOPHILE AUDITION


“Although entirely instrumental, Sangria speaks. Maybe it's the technical virtuosity abounding in the multiplicity of sounds — in the santur or sarangi, or the tabla or timbales. Maybe it's in the emotive resonance of what's behind the sounds... whatever it is, Parker's Sangria is a lively, adventurous exploration into a hybrid global identity.” — LEO WEEKLY



Mariah Parker (composer and multi-instrumentalist), while completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project. She has performed in the USA and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon, and performs regularly with the trendsetting world music group Ancient Future.


 


Radio Airplay Report


Sangria has received airplay on 385 radio programs, and received strong top five reports to the CMJ Jazz, CMJ New World, and ZMR radio charts. It reached #18 on the February 2009 ZMR World Radio Chart. In addition to strong airplay on traditional jazz and Latin programs, the record received some airplay on smooth jazz programs. Two songs were in the Smooth Jazz Now Top 100 Songs of 2009. Ancient-Future.Com Radio Report (1.9 MB .pdf)



Radio Airplay Report


Media Report


Sangria received 76 placements in national magazines, websites, newspapers, and other media. Download this media report to read the many rave reviews! Mariah Parker Media Report (3.4 MB .pdf)



Distribution



ADA Logo


Alternative Distribution Allience (212-343-2485). Founded in 1993, Warner Music Group's ADA is the largest distributor of independent music in America.


 

Friday, February 5, 2010

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble Returns to Yoshi's Jazz Club, Oakland, 4/19/2010

Ancient-Future.Com Records


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/3/2010

Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records

1-888-823-8887

info@ancient-future.com


Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet Returns to Yoshi's


Monday, April 19, 8 pm

Yoshi’s Jazz Club


510 Embarcadero West

Oakland, CA 94607

Tix: $18

For more info, call 510-238-9200 or visit www.yoshis.com


Ancient-Future.Com Records Artist

Mariah Parker and her Indo Latin Jazz Quintet


Photo of Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (2.4 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/indolatinquintet300dpi8x5.jpg


Featuring Mariah Parker (composer, piano, santur) and a stellar lineup of musicians including including Grammy award winning woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless (known through his work with the seminal chamber jazz groups Paul Winter Consort and Oregon), trailblazing guitarist Matthew Montfort (Ancient Future), bassist and cellist Kash Killion (Sun Ra Arkestra, Cecil Taylor); and Indian tabla/jazz drum set pioneer Sameer Gupta (Marc Cary, VidyA, Chitresh Das, Anindo Chatterjee).


Back By Popular Demand at Yoshi's Jazz Club, Jack London Square, Monday, April 19, 8 pm


“Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble packed Yoshi's in Jack London Square, and the incredible live performance had the audience roaring and screaming for more of the Indo-Latin jazz rhythms filling the celebrated jazz club during the CD release event for Mariah Parker's debut recording, 'Sangria.' Blending the asymmetrical meters of East India with the driving syncopations of Latin jazz to create a fresh new sound, Parker draws musical inspiration from Cuba, Brazil, India and Spain. The concert goers were so spirited and enthusiastic as the performance progressed throughout the evening, the roar of their response to Mariah Parker's compositions brought the jazz club to a feverish pitch that rocked the building to its foundation.” - Lynda Carson, BERKELEY DAILY PLANET


Mariah Parker (composition, piano, santur)


Photo of Mariah Parker

Mariah Parker with Piano Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.7 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariahpianohiRes.jpg


www.mariahparkermusic.com


Mariah Parker is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are santur and piano. Her first instrument was the piano which she began playing at age 5. Later in music school, she fell in love with the sound of the santur when she heard it drifting across campus. The transition was a natural one given that the santur, along with its Western offspring, the hammered dulcimer, is the ancestor of the piano. The strings of the santur are played directly by the delicate hammers, creating a beautiful shimmering sound. The sound of the piano is also created by hammered strings, but mechanically triggered by the fingers striking the keys.


Photo of Mariah Parker on piano

Mariah Parker with Santur Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariah_santur_300dpi5x4.jpg


While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project. She has performed in the US and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon, and performs regularly with the trend-setting world music group Ancient Future.


Videos


www.youtube.com/mariahparker


Youtube Video of Affinity Minus One

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble performs 'Affinity Minus One' at Yoshi's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WARbr891OGQ


Youtube Video of Milo's Moment

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble performs 'Milo's Moment' at Yoshi's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cMNlh182E0


Youtube Video of Sangria by Mariah Parker

Ancient Future performs 'Sangria' by Mariah Parker at 30th Anniversary Concert at Freight & Salvage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuaq_-hl0HE


Sangria by Mariah Parker


Sangria CD Cover

Mariah Parker - Sangria


Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017). $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio).


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Sangria (3.2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/sangria_cvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Mariah Parker's debut recording on Ancient-Future.Com Records, Sangria, features her original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. Her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble accompanies her and includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.


Sangria received airplay on over 385 New World, Jazz, and Latin radio programs. The recording has earned 76 media and chart placements including two songs on the Smooth Jazz Now Top 100 Songs of 2009 Chart and rave reviews such as the following:


“Parker and friends blend the rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz music with the entrancing, asymmetrical meters of East Indian rhythms resulting in first-class world music. Intriguing melodies that draw musical inspirations from the tempos of Brazil, Cuba, India, and Spain make for an uplifting serene yet passionate musical journey into an ideal world.” — LATIN BEAT MAGAZINE


“Dazzling debut.... Parker’s subtle and sensuous sounds reflect exotic flavors of India, the Middle East and Latin America.” — PALO ALTO DAILY NEWS


“Although entirely instrumental, Sangria speaks. Maybe it's the technical virtuosity abounding in the multiplicity of sounds - in the santur or sarangi, or the tabla or timbales. Maybe it's in the emotive resonance of what's behind the sounds, like the longing of separation in "Between the Lines," where Parker's fingers dance across the keys in precise, measured movements, in graceful arching and sweeping strokes, or in the spectacle of wonder in "Debajo De La Lluvia" or the "Tenth Journey." Whatever it is, Parker's Sangria is a lively, adventurous exploration into a hybrid global identity.” — LEO WEEKLY


“Parker brings a wide variety of influences to Sangria, ranging from Indian and Middle Eastern music to Afro-Cuban salsa and Brazilian samba. She obviously appreciates the Eastern-influenced spirituality and mysticism of John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, and Lonnie Liston Smith, but her composing also contains elements of everyone from Pat Metheny to Chick Corea.... Parker, of course, didn't invent the idea of world jazz… but she keeps it moving forward... demonstrating that the fusion of jazz and world music still has plenty of possibilities after all these years -- and a global perspective serves Parker well throughout the rewarding Sangria.” — ALL MUSIC GUIDE


“This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.” — AUDIOPHILE AUDITION


73 Word Radio Announcement


On Monday, April 19, at 8 pm, Ancient-Future.Com Records artist Mariah Parker and her Indo Latin Jazz Quintet will perform at Yoshis, located at 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, California. The concert features Mariah Parker on piano and santur, Paul McCandless on woodwinds and horns, Matthew Montfort on guitars, Kash Killion on bass and cello, and Sameer Gupta on drum set and tabla. Tickets are $18. Call 510-238-9200 or visit www.yoshis.com for more information.


 

Mariah Parker’s Indo Latin Jazz Quintet in concert at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, 4/15/10

Ancient-Future.Com Records


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/3/2010

Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records

1-888-823-8887

info@ancient-future.com


Mariah Parker’s Indo Latin Jazz Quintet in Concert


Thursday, April 15, 7 pm

Cookin’ at Kuumbwa

Kuumbwa Jazz Center


320-2 Cedar Street

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Tix: $12 adv, $15 door; Jazz & Dinner: $24.60 adv.

Tix by phone: 1-866-55-TICKETS

Tix online:
http://kuumbwajazz.inticketing.com/events

Doors open and dinner begins at 6 pm

For more info, call (831) 427-2227 or visit www.kuumbwajazz.org


The Thursday Night Jazz Series called “Cookin' at Kuumbwa” features guest chefs from local restaurants, plus Café Kuumbwa resident chef, Cheryl Simons. For one low price, jazz and dinner may be purchased in advance. Advance reservations include reserved seating at a table, plus the advance Jazz & Dinner package includes a discount off the door price. Doors open and dinner is served one-hour before showtime.


The concert is the exclusive Santa Cruz debut of Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet and celebrates Mariah Parker's debut release on Ancient-Future.Com Records, Sangria.


Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet In Concert


Photo of Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Quintet Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (2.4 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/indolatinquintet300dpi8x5.jpg


Featuring Mariah Parker (composer, piano, santur) and a stellar lineup of musicians including including Grammy award winning woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless (known through his work with the seminal chamber jazz groups Paul Winter Consort and Oregon), trailblazing guitarist Matthew Montfort (Ancient Future), bassist and cellist Kash Killion (Sun Ra Arkestra, Cecil Taylor); and Indian tabla/jazz drum set pioneer Sameer Gupta (Marc Cary, VidyA, Chitresh Das, Anindo Chatterjee).


“Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble packed Yoshi's in Jack London Square, and the incredible live performance had the audience roaring and screaming for more of the Indo-Latin jazz rhythms filling the celebrated jazz club during the CD release event for Mariah Parker's debut recording, 'Sangria.' Blending the asymmetrical meters of East India with the driving syncopations of Latin jazz to create a fresh new sound, Parker draws musical inspiration from Cuba, Brazil, India and Spain. The concert goers were so spirited and enthusiastic as the performance progressed throughout the evening, the roar of their response to Mariah Parker's compositions brought the jazz club to a feverish pitch that rocked the building to its foundation.” - Lynda Carson, BERKELEY DAILY PLANET


Mariah Parker (composition, piano, santur)


Photo of Mariah Parker

Mariah Parker with Piano Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.7 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariahpianohiRes.jpg


www.mariahparkermusic.com


Mariah Parker is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are santur and piano. Her first instrument was the piano which she began playing at age 5. Later in music school, she fell in love with the sound of the santur when she heard it drifting across campus. The transition was a natural one given that the santur, along with its Western offspring, the hammered dulcimer, is the ancestor of the piano. The strings of the santur are played directly by the delicate hammers, creating a beautiful shimmering sound. The sound of the piano is also created by hammered strings, but mechanically triggered by the fingers striking the keys.


Photo of Mariah Parker on piano

Mariah Parker with Santur Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariah_santur_300dpi5x4.jpg


While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project. She has performed in the US and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon, and performs regularly with the trend-setting world music group Ancient Future.


Videos


www.youtube.com/mariahparker


Youtube Video of Affinity Minus One

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble performs 'Affinity Minus One' at Yoshi's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WARbr891OGQ


Youtube Video of Milo's Moment

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble performs 'Milo's Moment' at Yoshi's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cMNlh182E0


Youtube Video of Sangria by Mariah Parker

Ancient Future performs 'Sangria' by Mariah Parker at 30th Anniversary Concert at Freight & Salvage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuaq_-hl0HE


Sangria by Mariah Parker


Sangria CD Cover

Mariah Parker - Sangria


Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017). $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio).


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Sangria (3.2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/sangria_cvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Mariah Parker's debut recording on Ancient-Future.Com Records, Sangria, features her original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. Her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble accompanies her and includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters.


Sangria received airplay on over 385 New World, Jazz, and Latin radio programs. The recording has earned 76 media and chart placements including two songs on the Smooth Jazz Now Top 100 Songs of 2009 Chart and rave reviews such as the following:


“Parker and friends blend the rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz music with the entrancing, asymmetrical meters of East Indian rhythms resulting in first-class world music. Intriguing melodies that draw musical inspirations from the tempos of Brazil, Cuba, India, and Spain make for an uplifting serene yet passionate musical journey into an ideal world.” — LATIN BEAT MAGAZINE


“Dazzling debut.... Parker’s subtle and sensuous sounds reflect exotic flavors of India, the Middle East and Latin America.” — PALO ALTO DAILY NEWS


“Although entirely instrumental, Sangria speaks. Maybe it's the technical virtuosity abounding in the multiplicity of sounds - in the santur or sarangi, or the tabla or timbales. Maybe it's in the emotive resonance of what's behind the sounds, like the longing of separation in "Between the Lines," where Parker's fingers dance across the keys in precise, measured movements, in graceful arching and sweeping strokes, or in the spectacle of wonder in "Debajo De La Lluvia" or the "Tenth Journey." Whatever it is, Parker's Sangria is a lively, adventurous exploration into a hybrid global identity.” — LEO WEEKLY


“Parker brings a wide variety of influences to Sangria, ranging from Indian and Middle Eastern music to Afro-Cuban salsa and Brazilian samba. She obviously appreciates the Eastern-influenced spirituality and mysticism of John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, and Lonnie Liston Smith, but her composing also contains elements of everyone from Pat Metheny to Chick Corea.... Parker, of course, didn't invent the idea of world jazz… but she keeps it moving forward... demonstrating that the fusion of jazz and world music still has plenty of possibilities after all these years -- and a global perspective serves Parker well throughout the rewarding Sangria.” — ALL MUSIC GUIDE


“This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.” — AUDIOPHILE AUDITION


130 Word Radio Announcement


On Thursday, April 15, at 7 pm, Ancient-Future.Com Records artist Mariah Parker and her Indo Latin Jazz Quintet perform at the “Cookin' at Kuumbwa” Jazz Series at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, located at 320-2 Cedar Street, in Santa Cruz, California. This series combines the best in jazz and cuisine, featuring guest chefs from local restaurants plus Café Kuumbwa resident chef, Cheryl Simons. The concert features Mariah Parker on piano and santur, Paul McCandless on woodwinds and horns, Matthew Montfort on guitars, Kash Killion on bass and cello, and Sameer Gupta on drum set and tabla. Doors open and dinner begins at 6 pm. Jazz and dinner is $24.60 in advance. Concert only tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Call (831) 427-2227 or visit kuumbwajazz.org for more information.


 

Ancient Future Trio at Village Homes Community Center in Davis 3/27/10

Ancient-Future.Com Records


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/3/2010

Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records

1-888-823-8887

info@ancient-future.com


Ancient Future Trio In Concert


Saturday, March 27, 7 pm

TimnaTal Music Presents
Ancient Future

Village Homes Community Center


2661 Portage Bay East

Davis, CA 95616

Tix: $12 in advance, $15 at the door

Info: 530-867-1032

Email: info@timnatalmusic.com

Venue Website: www.timnatalmusic.com

Ancient Future Website: www.ancient-future.com


Ancient Future Trio In Concert


Photo of Mariah Parker and Matthew Montfort

Ancient Future Trio Hi-Res Photo (3.9 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/afmariahmattsalah300dpi15.3x10.2.jpg


Matthew Montfort - scalloped fretboard and fretless guitars

Mariah Parker - santur (hammered dulcimer)

Joe Fajen - tabla, percussion


This concert features a trio version of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future featuring scalloped fretboard guitarist Matthew Montfort, santurist Mariah Parker, and Joe Fajen on tabla and percussion. This trio concentrates on Arabic, Indian, and Spanish musical themes and will perform music from Ancient Future's broad repertoire including three current releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records celebrating 30 years of world fusion music: Planet Passion by Ancient Future (remastered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band), Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort, and Sangria by Mariah Parker.


Ancient Future Trio Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar, flamenco guitar, Glissentar), Mariah Parker (santur), and Joe Fajen (tabla, percussion)


Matthew Montfort and Mariah Parker on Youtube

Youtube Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuaq_-hl0HE

www.ancient-future.com


Ancient Future is the first and longest running musical organization dedicated exclusively to the mission of creating world fusion music. The term was coined by bandleader Matthew Montfort in 1978 to describe Ancient Future’s unusual blend of musical traditions from around the world. BILLBOARD calls the group “trendsetters” for their early contributions to the movement, which seeks to show how people from different cultures can grow by learning from each other. There are more than 12 versions of the band, each with different musicians from different cultures in order to fully explore the varieties of world fusion music. The Ancient Future Trio concentrates on Arabic, Indian, and Spanish musical themes, and has performed in Spain at festivals in Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Botarell, Torredembarra, and Salou.


Planet Passion by Ancient Future


Planet Passion CD Cover

Planet Passion


Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010) $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio.)



Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Planet Passion (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/planetpassioncvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Planet Passion:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/planetpassion_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Planet Passion:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/planet_passion_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Planet Passion by Ancient Future has been re-issued with 64-Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The seventh Ancient Future recording features nineteen top masters of of Indian, Nepalese, African, Cuban, Celtic, Arabic, Palestinian, Jewish, Indonesian, Chinese, Eastern European and American music traditions performing music on the theme of mythical stories of love.


“If the members of the United Nations formed a world-fusion band, it might look and sound a little something like Ancient Future’s re-issue of their seventh recording. Featuring instrumentation from Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East, Planet Passion is a mythical story of love, flirtation, seduction, courtship, marriage and longing. Manose Singh’s bansuri flute and Matthew Montfort’s scalloped fretboard work stand out in this eclectic, visionary global village, where each track features its own unique set of players. At its best, Planet Passion strives to preserve the world’s vast musical heritage via international collaboration: the idea that one protects the old by creating something new. This is at the heart of fusion music and the heart of Ancient Future’s global aesthetics, too: a diverse, unified world without borders, a multicultural community, a new, reconstituted sonic reality.” — Ryan Allen, LEO WEEKLY, Louisville, Kentucky


Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar, Godin Glissentar)


Photo of Matthew Montfort

Matthew Montfort Hi-Res Photo (2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/matthewmontfort600.jpg

5 Page Guitar Player Magazine Feature and Lesson:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/MatthewMontfortGuitarPlayerMag.pdf


www.matthewmontfort.com


The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort, has just released his first solo recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar. He is a pioneer among guitarists who have had their fretboards scalloped in order to play various forms of world music that require intricate note-bending ornaments while still being able to play chords. Montfort immersed himself in an intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. The December 2009 Les Paul issue of Guitar Player Magazine includes a full page feature on Matthew Montfort with a corresponding GuitarPlayer.Com video and lesson entitled “The Music of Jimi Hendrix Applied to Indian Raga.” He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui. Montfort wrote the book “Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India,” which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.


Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort


Seven Serenades CD Cover

Matthew Montfort



Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort. (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2008). $17.98: Buy 1 Now.


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Seven Serenades (912 k):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/serenade300dpi.jpg

One Sheet for Seven Serenades with Streaming Audio:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Seven Serenades:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_digital_liner_notes.pdf



Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar is the debut solo recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort. The recording showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. This first solo effort features his improvisational music.


“Because Montfort’s guitar has a scalloped fretboard, his fingers touch only the strings, enabling him to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. This album reveals a thorough knowledge of Hindustani microtonal ornaments, transferred in ways that create one of the most distinctive guitar sounds in contemporary music. However, it also reveals a lifetime of exploration in world music, which can be immediately summoned in a flash of inspiration. When this level of mastery is reached, there is no need to rewrite. The first improvisation has the depth of a reworked composition.” — Teed Rockwell, INDIA CURRENTS, March 2009


“The mind-bending playing abilities of guitar virtuoso, Matthew Montfort, stems from the note-bending capabilities of the scalloped fretboard guitar. This produces a different sound than the more familiar guitar, because the fretboard is carved out, so the fingers only touch the strings. Musically, the songs verge on a flamenco-Indian-jazz continuum. This is partly due to Matthew's playing technique and the sitar-like sounds of his guitar.” — Matthew Forss, INSIDE WORLD MUSIC


Mariah Parker (santur)


Photo of Mariah Parker on piano


Mariah Parker with Santur Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariah_santur_300dpi5x4.jpg


www.mariahparkermusic.com


Mariah Parker is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are santur and piano. Her first instrument was the piano which she began playing at age 5. Later in music school, she fell in love with the sound of the santur when she heard it drifting across campus. The transition was a natural one given that the santur, along with its Western offspring, the hammered dulcimer, is the ancestor of the piano. The strings of the santur are played directly by the delicate hammers, creating a beautiful shimmering sound. The sound of the piano is also created by hammered strings, but mechanically triggered by the fingers striking the keys.


While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project. She has performed in the US and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon.


Sangria by Mariah Parker


Sangria CD Cover

Mariah Parker - Sangria


Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017). $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio).


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Sangria (3.2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/sangria_cvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Sangria by Mariah Parker blends the driving rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz with the entrancing, assymetrical meters of East India. This debut recording features her original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India.


“This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.” — AUDIOPHILE AUDITION


65 Word Radio Announcement


On Saturday, March 27, at 7 pm, the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future will perform at the Village Homes Community Center, 2661 Portage Bay East, in Davis, California. This trio concert features guitarist Matthew Montfort, santurist Mariah Parker, and Joe Fajen on tabla and percussion. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. For more info, call 530-867-1032 or email info@timnatalmusic.com.


 

Ancient Future Duet Performs In the Mood for Food Dinner Concert, Oakland, 3/6/2010

Ancient-Future.Com Records


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2/2/2010

Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records

1-888-823-8887

info@ancient-future.com


Ancient Future Duet Performs Dinner Concert

Cuisine by In the Mood for Food


Saturday, March 6, 2010, 7 pm

In the Mood for Food Dinner Concert Series


Private Location

Oakland, CA 94607

Tix: $55/person. Bring your own bottle. Limited seating for 20. Reservations required.

Reservations Tel: 510-393-6096.

Reservations Email: phil@philipgelb.com

In the Mood For Food Website: philipgelb.blogspot.com

Ancient Future Website: www.ancient-future.com

Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=253853104137&index=1


Ancient Future Duet In Concert


Photo of Mariah Parker and Matthew Montfort

Ancient Future Duet Hi-Res Photo (3.9 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/afmariahmatt300dpi10.4x6.9.jpg


Matthew Montfort - scalloped fretboard and fretless guitars

Mariah Parker - santur (hammered dulcimer)


This intimate dinner concert features a delicate duet version of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future featuring scalloped fretboard guitarist Matthew Montfort and santurist Mariah Parker. They will perform music from Ancient Future's broad repertoire including three current releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records celebrating 30 years of world fusion music: 'Planet Passion' by Ancient Future (remastered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band), Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort, and Sangria by Mariah Parker.


In the Mood for Food Dinner Menu


In the Mood for Food


Much as a musician's craft is constantly evolving, the five course menus for the In the Mood for Food dinner concert series are typically a creative work in progress until the final shopping trip the day of the show. The envisioned menu for the Ancient Future duet concert features wild mushroom black lentil soup (heirloom lentils and winter vegetables in a wild mushroom stock); an arugula, radichio, grilled portabello mushroom salad with tangerine dressing; a small surprise plate TBA; an entree of gingered sweet potato puree, spicy orange roasted homemade tempeh, and sauteed garlic kale and purple cabbage; and for desert a banana split world fusion style with homemade chocolate/cardamom and coconut/lemongrass vegan ice “cream.”


Ancient Future Duet Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar, flamenco guitar, Glissentar) and Mariah Parker (santur)


Matthew Montfort and Mariah Parker on Youtube

Youtube Video Duet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGIliJuyfvs

www.ancient-future.com


Ancient Future is the first and longest running musical organization dedicated exclusively to the mission of creating world fusion music. The term was coined by bandleader Matthew Montfort in 1978 to describe Ancient Future’s unusual blend of musical traditions from around the world. BILLBOARD calls the group “trendsetters” for their early contributions to the movement, which seeks to show how people from different cultures can grow by learning from each other. There are more than 12 versions of the band, each with different musicians from different cultures in order to fully explore the varieties of world fusion music. The Ancient Future duet concentrates on Arabic, Indian, and Spanish musical themes, and has performed in Spain at festivals in Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Botarell, Torredembarra, and Salou.


Planet Passion by Ancient Future


Planet Passion CD Cover

Planet Passion


Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010) $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio.)



Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Planet Passion (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/planetpassioncvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Planet Passion:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/planetpassion_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Planet Passion:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/planet_passion_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Planet Passion by Ancient Future has been re-issued with 64-Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The seventh Ancient Future recording features nineteen top masters of of Indian, Nepalese, African, Cuban, Celtic, Arabic, Palestinian, Jewish, Indonesian, Chinese, Eastern European and American music traditions performing music on the theme of mythical stories of love.


“If the members of the United Nations formed a world-fusion band, it might look and sound a little something like Ancient Future’s re-issue of their seventh recording. Featuring instrumentation from Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East, Planet Passion is a mythical story of love, flirtation, seduction, courtship, marriage and longing. Manose Singh’s bansuri flute and Matthew Montfort’s scalloped fretboard work stand out in this eclectic, visionary global village, where each track features its own unique set of players. At its best, Planet Passion strives to preserve the world’s vast musical heritage via international collaboration: the idea that one protects the old by creating something new. This is at the heart of fusion music and the heart of Ancient Future’s global aesthetics, too: a diverse, unified world without borders, a multicultural community, a new, reconstituted sonic reality.” — Ryan Allen, LEO WEEKLY, Louisville, Kentucky


Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar, Godin Glissentar)


Photo of Matthew Montfort

Matthew Montfort Hi-Res Photo (2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/matthewmontfort600.jpg

5 Page Guitar Player Magazine Feature and Lesson:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/MatthewMontfortGuitarPlayerMag.pdf


www.matthewmontfort.com


The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort, has just released his first solo recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar. He is a pioneer among guitarists who have had their fretboards scalloped in order to play various forms of world music that require intricate note-bending ornaments while still being able to play chords. Montfort immersed himself in an intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. The December 2009 Les Paul issue of Guitar Player Magazine includes a full page feature on Matthew Montfort with a corresponding GuitarPlayer.Com video and lesson entitled “The Music of Jimi Hendrix Applied to Indian Raga.” He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui. Montfort wrote the book “Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India,” which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.


Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort


Seven Serenades CD Cover

Matthew Montfort



Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort. (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2008). $17.98: Buy 1 Now.


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Seven Serenades (912 k):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/serenade300dpi.jpg

One Sheet for Seven Serenades with Streaming Audio:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Seven Serenades:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_digital_liner_notes.pdf



Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar is the debut solo recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort. The recording showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. This first solo effort features his improvisational music.


“Because Montfort’s guitar has a scalloped fretboard, his fingers touch only the strings, enabling him to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. This album reveals a thorough knowledge of Hindustani microtonal ornaments, transferred in ways that create one of the most distinctive guitar sounds in contemporary music. However, it also reveals a lifetime of exploration in world music, which can be immediately summoned in a flash of inspiration. When this level of mastery is reached, there is no need to rewrite. The first improvisation has the depth of a reworked composition.” — Teed Rockwell, INDIA CURRENTS, March 2009


“The mind-bending playing abilities of guitar virtuoso, Matthew Montfort, stems from the note-bending capabilities of the scalloped fretboard guitar. This produces a different sound than the more familiar guitar, because the fretboard is carved out, so the fingers only touch the strings. Musically, the songs verge on a flamenco-Indian-jazz continuum. This is partly due to Matthew's playing technique and the sitar-like sounds of his guitar.” — Matthew Forss, INSIDE WORLD MUSIC


Mariah Parker (santur)


Photo of Mariah Parker on piano


Mariah Parker with Santur Hi-Res Photo by Ross Pelton (1.6 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/mariah_santur_300dpi5x4.jpg


www.mariahparkermusic.com


Mariah Parker is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are santur and piano. Her first instrument was the piano which she began playing at age 5. Later in music school, she fell in love with the sound of the santur when she heard it drifting across campus. The transition was a natural one given that the santur, along with its Western offspring, the hammered dulcimer, is the ancestor of the piano. The strings of the santur are played directly by the delicate hammers, creating a beautiful shimmering sound. The sound of the piano is also created by hammered strings, but mechanically triggered by the fingers striking the keys.


While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project. She has performed in the US and Europe, and worked with many musicians of note including composer Pauline Oliveros, the late Dumisani Maraire (renowned composer from Zimbabwe) and others. She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon.


Sangria by Mariah Parker


Sangria CD Cover

Mariah Parker - Sangria


Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017). $17.98: Buy 1 Now. (>audio).


Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Sangria (3.2 MB):

http://www.ancient-future.com/images/sangria_cvr300dpi.jpg

One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_1sheet_dig.pdf

Liner Notes for Sangria:

http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/sangria_digital_liner_notes.pdf


Sangria by Mariah Parker blends the driving rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz with the entrancing, assymetrical meters of East India. This debut recording features her original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India.


“This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.” — AUDIOPHILE AUDITION


120 Word Radio Announcement


On Saturday, March 6, at 7 pm, Ancient Future will perform a dinner concert as part of the In the Mood For Food Dinner Concert Series, which are held at a private location in Oakland. This intimate dinner concert features a delicate duet version of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future featuring scalloped fretboard guitarist Matthew Montfort and santurist Mariah Parker. They will perform music from Ancient Future's broad repertoire including three current releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records celebrating 30 years of world fusion music. There is limited seating for 20 and reservations are required. Call 510-393-6096 or email phil@philipgelb.com. The cost is $55 per person including a gourmet vegetarian meal. Guests are requested to bring their own beverage.