Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Matthew Montfort and Friends Perform Free Concert Series in Sonoma County Libraries

Free Educational Library Concert Series

Photo of Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar
Hi-Res Photo of Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar at Recording Session by Michael Braden (858k)

Duets and Trios Featuring World Guitar Pioneer Matthew Montfort
With Master Musicians Teja Gerken (Fingerstyle Guitar), Doug McKeehan (Keys), Ian Dogole (Global Percussion), Antoine Lammam (Arabic Percussion), Shenshen Zhang (Pipa), and Vishal Nagar (Tabla)

Ancient Future bandleader and scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer will be joined by master musicians from many traditions for this series of hour long free concerts at libraries in Sonoma County. Each show will feature different material from recordings by Matthew Montfort, Ancient Future, and the master musicians he is performing with.

Videos

'Soul Serenade' by Matthew Montfort

Matthew Montfort on Youtube
Video of Matthew Montfort Performing Solo Scalloped Fretboard Guitar

'Bookenka' by Doug McKeehan of Ancient Future

Turkish Taffy Youtube Video
Video of Ancient Future Performing Bookenka at 'World Without Walls' Reunion

Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang

Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Shenshen Zhang (pipa) on Ethnocloud
Video of the very first notes that Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang played together the night they met on stage!

'Yearning for the Wind' by Ancient Future

Yearning for the Wind on YouTube
Video of Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar

Performers

Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar)

Photo of Matthew Montfort
Hi-Res Photo of Matthew Montfort by Julie Marten (2 MB)

The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort, released his first solo recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, in 2009. 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. He is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com, a curated "best of" site, along with such luminaries as Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, John Fahey, Merle Travis, John Renbourn, Tommy Emmanuel, Doc Watson, Pierre Bensusan, Alex De Grassi, and Peppino D'Agostino. 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 performed live on national radio and TV shows such as the Echoes Living Room Concerts on Public Radio International, and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. 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.

Teja Gerken (fingerstyle guitar)

Photo of Teja Gerken
Hi-Res Photo of Teja Gerken (2.9 MB). More Hi-Res Photos. Video of Teja Gerken
German-born Teja Gerken is a contemporary steel-string fingerstyle guitarist whose playing merges the styles of European guitar pioneers such as John Renbourn and Pierre Bensusan with the distinct sounds of American players such as Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges. Known for his original compositions, many of which employ alternate tunings, two-handed tapping, percussive effects, and other extended guitar techniques, Teja will also bring Celtic, jazz, and classical styles to the Global Guitar Summit.
"Releasing his second CD, Postcards, is San Francisco area fingerstyle guitarist Teja Gerken, who delivers solo instrumental compositions with enough surprises and innovative twists to delight aficionados of the world music and folk genres. His tunes employ physical techniques such as two-handed tapping, alternate tunings, and percussive effects, but his developed sense of melody is what will keep his CD playing in your mind long after the 'stop' button is pressed. Another impressive feature is that Gerken's playing is captured without overdubs; the intricate arrangements delivered as you might hear the artist in concert. Gerken is one of a rare breed - a guitarist's guitarist with equal appeal for the non-musicians out there. His Postcards album is highly recommended." – GUITAR9.COM

Doug McKeehan (piano, synthesizers)

Photo of Doug McKeehan
Doug McKeehan started his piano studies at age five, and began his first professional work at the age of twelve. He studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory, Kent State University, and the University of Otago (New Zealand). He has toured Europe twice and spent considerable time in India studying with notable Indian music teachers such as Pandit Ram Narayan, Ustad Kursheed Khan and Pandit A.G. Bhattacharya. He has composed original music for stage and T.V. productions in San Francisco and Los Angeles and has been musical director of two original musical comedy productions. He cofounded Air Craft with violinist Bruce Bowers, which released a highly acclaimed new age/jazz album, So Near, So Far (Catero CAT-019). He is a first call jazz pianist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ian Dogole (percussion)

Photo of Ian Dogole
For over 30 years, Ian Dogole has articulated his vision of global fusion music as a multipercussionist, bandleader, educator, recording artist, composer and producer. He has released seven records and a DVD as a leader – Along the Route, Dangerous Ground, Ionospheres, Night Harvest, Convergence, Crossroads, Outside the Box – Jazz Journeys & Worlds Beyond and Ian Dogole & Hemispheres In Concert (DVD). Ian has recorded and performed with artists such as Hamza el Din, Tito La Rosa, Richie Cole, Paul McCandless and Alex de Grassi. He performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments, including udu, cajon, hang, African talking drum, kalimbas, cymbals and dumbek. Ian has received numerous grants, including a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, two recent grants from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music (SFFCM) to present musical tribute concerts in honor of jazz legends Woody Shaw and Wayne Shorter, and multiple grants from the Marin Arts Council. Ian is very active as a music educator – having presented assemblies to more than 60,000 elementary school students in his four seasons with the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music program and he has just completed his third season presenting a global world music appreciation series to students at Redwood High School in Larkspur, CA. Ian has also offered his music education programs through numerous nonprofit organizations, including Bread & Roses, Young Imaginations, Youth in Arts and Young Audiences of the Bay Area.

Antoine Lammam (Arabic percussion)

Antoine Lammam and Matthew Montfort at the Petaluma Library
Photo of Antoine Lammam and Matthew Montfort at the Petaluma Library
Antoine Lammam was born in Beirut, Lebanon. His musical career started early, where at the age of 8 he was given his first drum, an Egyptian tabla. Antoine's passion and his huge talent was noted by his family, many of whom were themselves involved in the arts. At the age of 14, Antoine moved to United Arab Emirates with his family, running away from the war in Lebanon, where he joined a local band at 16. He was encouraged to master his craft and studied under Khaliji conga master Jumah Ibrahim and Syrian bongo and tambourine player Marwaan Sheriff. The move to United Arab Emirates and joining a number one band consisting of 20 members gave the young Antoine a rich insight into the cultural origins of Middle Eastern music mixed with the flavors of Indian and African rhythms. In the mid of 1970's, Antoine became the main drummer for famous Khaliji singer Abdullah bel-Kheir. But as Antoine began looking for new dimensions of percussive sounds, he found himself turning full circle into his first interest and his sensual passion for the Arabic tambourine.
It wasn't till late 1970's, when Antoine met and studied with famous tambourine player Michael Baklouk. After that, Antoine became the main tambourine player at Dubai's major radio station, where he enjoyed playing for famous artists, doing different contest shows, and recording for various top singers of that time. Antoine has accompanied many famous singers in the USA, played at major night clubs all over America, and taught Arabic rhythms and percussion theories at UC Berkeley (World Music from the Middle-East) from 1991-2009. Antoine is featured on many record releases, including Ancient Future's Planet Passion and his own poetry and music album, Echoes Of Silence, which features his brothers, the famous violinist Georges Lammam and master accordion player Elias Lammam.

Shenshen Zhang (pipa)

Picture of Chinese Pipa Virtuoso Shenshen Zhang
A native of Wenzhou, China, Shenshen Zhang began playing the pipa at the age of nine. At thirteen, she auditioned and was accepted into the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where in 1992, she was awarded a Bachelor's Degree. In 2005, Ms. Zhang received Master's Degree in Musicology from Xiamen University. As an award-​​winning concert soloist, she performed and toured extensively throughout Asia and the U.S. Since making her home in SF Bay Area in 2006, Ms. Zhang has combined her lengthy performance career and her vast experience as an educator, preserving the musical heritage of China while also exploring other world cultures. Ms. Zhang taught music at Stanford University from 2015 to 2017, and she has her own pipa studio in Silicon Valley where she teaches classical Chinese music to a diverse student population.

Vishal Nagar (tabla)

Vishal Nagar
Hi-Res Photo of Vishal Nagar by Inni Singh (5 MB)

"He has magic in his hands" - Hindustan Times
Vishal Nagar is considered one of the most gifted tabla players of his generation. Born into a family of musicians, Vishal has been surrounded by music in an extremely musically creative and artistic environment. Since childhood, he has been fascinated by tabla and began to play at an early age. Vishal had his initial training for a very brief period with the late Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan of the Delhi Gharana. After his Ustad's untimely demise, Vishal continued his training under the guidance of Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan of the same Gharana (school). Along with the dense and rare tabla repertoire taleem which was he received from his Ustad, he also has had intense rhythmic (layakari) training from his mother, the renowned and highly respected Kathak dancer and vocalist, Urmila Nagar. Vishal has been praised in the Indian press for his unique combination of melodic tabla sound production with masterful command of rhythm.
Vishal has had the privilege of performing with such renowned artists as Ustad Shujaat Khan, Guru Urmila Nagar, Vidhwan Trichur Ramachandran, Pandit Ramesh Misra, and Kala Ramnath. Vishal has also had the honor of sharing the stage with some great world music masters such as African drum legend Babatunde Olatunji, Michel Shrieve, Evyind Kang, Carmona Flamenco, and Michael Wimberley. Vishal has also expanded his cultural boundaries and collaborated with musicians from around the world. Some of his memorable works have been with the Ghanaian Guitarist Koo Nimo with whom he also appeared in WOMAD USA (a leading world dance and music festival started by Peter Gabriel). Starting his performance career at the age of eight in Patna, Vishal has performed around the globe including performances in many cities in India, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Thailand and the United States. Vishal has also been awarded with the Ministry of Culture Scholarship from the Department of Culture.

Past Concerts in the Series

Ancient Future History at Petaluma Library, February 20, 7 PM

Original Ancient Future Video on Facebook
Video of Ancient Future Circa 1978.

Featuring Matthew Montfort (Scalloped Fretboard Guitar)
With Mindia Devi Klein (Bansuri and Silver Flute), and Mariah Parker (Keys, Santur)

This concert celebrated Ancient Future History with music from the early period of the band Ancient Future's musical development. Performing with Ancient Future bandleader Matthew Montfort was original member Mindia Devi Klein on bansuri and silver flutes, and Mariah Parker, who filled in for original Ancient Future member Phil Fong at their 40th anniversary reunion concert, on santur and keys. Local Petaluma tabla player Mark Gerhard sat in on one piece. The concert was well attended and the band received a standing ovation resulting in an encore.

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