Ancient Future 'World Without Walls' Reunion Concert at San Francisco International Arts Fest May 26

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4/4/2019
Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records
1-415-459-1892
info@ancient-future.com

Celebrating 40 Years of World Fusion

Ancient Future 'World Without Walls' Reunion Concert

Sepia for print (14.7" x 9.7" sepia jpg, 7.2 MB). Ancient Future circa 1990. Photo by Irene Young. Pictured: Matthew Montfort (guitars), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keys), Ian Dogole (percussion).

World Jazz Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), and Ian Dogole (percussion)

Sunday, May 26, 2019, 5 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Gallery 308, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94109
Tix: $25 general. $30 reserved table, $35 reserved front table, $15 youth 17 and under.
Buy Tix Link. Box office: 415-345-7575. Email: info@sfiaf.org.
Facebook Event Page.

Poster (1.1 MB .pdf)
In celebratrion of Ancient Future's 40th season of world fusion music, the exact lineup of Ancient Future that performed on the band's influential World Without Walls and Asian Fusion recordings will reunite to perform at the San Francisco International Arts Festival. The reunion show features the original lineup of Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Jim Hurley on violin, Doug McKeehan on keyboards, Ian Dogole on percussion. Their uptempo virtuoso world fusion music is an exhilarating mix of jazz improvisation with the exciting rhythms, exotic sounds, and enchanting melodies of world music.
This lineup of Ancient Future played over a hundred concerts together from 1988 to 1995. In 2011, they reunited for the first time in 15 years to perform concerts at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord and Yoshi's in San Francisco. In honor of the reunion concerts, World Without Walls was released digitally by Capitol Records for the first time ever at major digital retailers such as iTunes. Twenty two years after its initial release in 1990, broadcasters worldwide voted the record as one of the top 5 world music releases of 2012. In September 2012 they performed at the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then at the Freight and Salvage in October 2013. This show at the San Francisco International Arts Festival will be their fifth reunion concert.
They have headlined such venues as San Francisco's Great American Music Hall and Eugene's Hult Center for the Performing Arts, appeared at numerous jazz festivals such as the Sacramento River Jazz Festival, Cotati Jazz Festival, Valhalla Jazz Festival, and Sand Harbor, and shared bills with other leading jazz and contemporary music artists including Fourth World with Flora Purim and Airto, Tower of Power, Craig Chaquico, Acoustic Alchemy, and Ottmar Liebert. Ancient Future was the subject of numerous features in publications such as JAZZIZ and MÚSICA GLOBAL. A selection of these articles have been uploaded to the archives of Ancient Future history, providing an interesting perspective on a period of growth in the world music movement.

'World Without Walls' Reunion Video

YouTube Video of Ancient Future Performing Bookenka at 'World Without Walls' Reunion. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), Ian Dogole (percussion), Kash Killion (bass), and Mariah Parker (santur).
"Ancient Future is a rare kind of band that might simultaneously aggravate purists, confound New Age dilettantes, seduce skeptics, and dazzle just about everybody else. Delicious compositions, intricate arrangements, crisp playing and impeccable production put these ambitious voyagers in a league of their own." - Derk Richardson, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

Band Bio

B/W for print (5.11" x 3.55" 300 dpi jpg, 212k). Ancient Future circa 1990. Photo by Irene Young. Pictured: Matthew Montfort, Jim Hurley, Doug McKeehan, Ian Dogole.
"Ancient Future is a rare kind of band that might simultaneously aggravate purists, confound New Age dilettantes, seduce skeptics, and dazzle just about everybody else. Delicious compositions, intricate arrangements, crisp playing and impeccable production put these ambitious voyagers in a league of their own." -Derk Richardson, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
Formed in late 1978, 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 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.
Ancient Future has released seven full length studio CDs selling over 150,000 units: Visions of a Peaceful Planet, Natural Rhythms, Quiet Fire, Dreamchaser, World Without Walls, Asian Fusion, and Planet Passion. Over one million legal mp3 files from three of these releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records have been distributed commercially. Ancient Future is also featured on samplers selling millions of units on labels such as Putumayo and Narada. They are currently working on recordings for their fan funded Archive of Future Ancient Recordings. Over an hour of music in the archive is already available exclusively to supporters, with more to come as funds are raised.
Over the years, Ancient Future has expanded its musical vision through collaborations with master musicians from more than two dozen countries, cultures, and musical traditions who are now an integral part of what is today more than just a band. Ancient Future has grown to become a large multinational music ensemble with many smaller ensembles within it, enabling Ancient Future to realize its core mission of creating world fusion music. Through cross cultural exchange, Ancient Future has created a musical world without borders.

Matthew Montfort (bandleader, scalloped fretboard guitar)

Matthew Montfort is the leader of the world fusion music ensemble Ancient Future. He is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar (an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar). Montfort spent three months in intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. In 2009, he released his first solo guitar recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, which debuted at #8 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 February 2009 World Radio Chart, and held the #34 spot on the Top 100 of 2009. He has performed concerts worldwide, including at the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain near Barcelona and the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay. He has performed live on national radio and TV shows such as the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. 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.

Jim Hurley (violin)

Jim Hurley has been playing violin since 1969. He holds a B.A. in Music from Humboldt State University. Influenced profoundly by South Indian violinist L. Shankar, he incorporates styles from bebop to zydeco, European classical to Zairean soukous. He is well known for his performances with Ritchie Blackmore and Blackmore's Night (rock legend turned Celtic and Renaissance musician), American roots music leaders such as Grammy winners Queen Ida and Al Rapone, and swing legend Dan Hicks' Acoustic Warriors. He has toured Europe and Japan and performed at numerous major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Jim Hurley has released two solo recordings, Primary Colors, and Finger Painting.

Doug McKeehan (keys)

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 progressive jazz album, So Near, So Far (Crafted Air CA 30100). He is a first call jazz pianist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ian Dogole (percussion)

Ian Dogole holds a B.A. in Ethnomusicology from Brown University and an M.A. in Classics from Villanova University. He began his musical studies with the piano at the age of five, later switching to jazz guitar which was to be his primary focus until taking up percussion during his ethnomusicology studies. He has released numerous albums as a bandleader, including Along the Route (Dr. Unit), Dangerous Ground (Café), Ionospherses (C.E.I.), Night Harvest (Global Fusion Music), Convergence (Jazzheads), and Outside the Box – Jazz Journeys & Worlds Beyond (Global Fusion Music), all pioneering works in the field of world fusion music. He has received numerous prestigious grants and fellowships, including a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the N.E.A in 1991; Marin Arts Council grants in 1994, 1995, and 2008; San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music performance grants in 2009, 2011, and 2015; and an InterMusic SF grant in 2018 to present the music of saxophone giant Pharoah Sanders.

Recordings Featuring Reunion Lineup

World Without Walls by Ancient Future

(Sona Gaia/MCA 163): CD - $24.98 (collectable signed copy): Buy Link. >YouTube Music.
Press Audio Downloads: Lakshmi Rocks Me (Jim Hurley) MP3 (excerpt, 976 K). >YouTube Music.
14 Steps (Matthew Montfort) MP3 (excerpt, 1 MB). >YouTube Music.
As its name suggests, World Without Walls depicts a musical world without borders. Released in 1990, it features performances by such world music luminaries as Zakir Hussain, the master of the North Indian tabla. The inviting melodies and ingenious use of ethnic textures make this recording one of Ancient Future's most accessible and broadly appealing releases ever.

World Without Walls Media Report (6.4 MB .pdf)
"World Without Walls speaks to a cultural enrichment, a melding of world culture with Ancient Future's own lush sense of melody and rhythmic drive." - John Diliberto, JAZZIZ

Asian Fusion by Ancient Future

(Narada Equinox ND-63023): CD - $24.98 (collectable signed copy): Buy Link. >YouTube Music.
Press Audio Download: Mezgoof (Ian Dogole) MP3 (excerpt, 800K). >YouTube Music
Asian Fusion is a musical travelogue spanning the vast geographic and cultural expanse of Asia showcasing some of the top performers in the Asian music field, including Zhao Hui, China's preeminent master of the gu zheng (Chinese zither) and Bui Huu Nhut, a leading performer of the Vietnamese dan bau (a one-string Vietnamese instrument with an indigenous version of a whammy bar). Asian Fusion received much critical acclaim. It made the Tower Pulse! Top 10 Best Contemporary Instrumental Releases of 1993 List (#4) and was Guitar Player magazine's "Pick" for April 1994.

Asian Fusion Media Report (11.4 MB .pdf)
"This compilation of 12 songs influenced by the Far East has all the sweeping impact of epic movies such as 'The Last Emperor.'" - CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Planet Passion by Ancient Future

(Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010): CD - $17.98: Buy Link. >YouTube Music.
Press Audio Download: Socha Socha (Khan/Montfort) MP3 (short version, 3.6 MB). >YouTube Music.
The classic lineup of Ancient Future performing these special reunion concerts also was featured on one cut on the Planet Passion CD: the song Socha Socha on which they accompanied sitar master Pandit Habib Khan. Originally released in 2002, it was remastered and re-issued in 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first Ancient Future concert.

Planet Passion Media Report (3 MB .pdf)
"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. 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

100 Word Radio Announcement

The exact lineup of the pioneering world music group Ancient Future that performed on their influential World Without Walls and Asian Fusion recordings is reuniting to perform at the 2019 San Francisco International Arts Festival on Sunday, May 26, at 5 PM at Gallery 308 in Fort Mason in San Francisco. The reunion show features Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Jim Hurley on violin, Doug McKeehan on keyboards, Ian Dogole on percussion. For more information, visit sfiaf.org or call the box office at 415-345-7575. Tickets are $25 general, $12.50 under 18, $30 reserved table, and $35 reserved front table.

###

Ancient Future 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert at the Freight & Salvage, Feb. 12, 2019

NEWS UPDATE: Announcing an Original 1979 Band Lineup Reunion!!!

Ancient Future 40th Anniversary Concert at the Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, February 12, 2019

Hi-Res Photo of Ancient Future Circa 1981 (1.2 MB). Shown: Mindia Devi Klein, Benjy Wertheimer, Matthew Montfort

Original Band Reunion Plus Celebrating 40 Years of World Fusion Music!

Ancient Future's first concert took place on February 11, 1979, at the Sleeping Lady Cafe in Fairfax, California, a vegetarian cafe and music club co-op that was the center of a vibrant local music scene. It was the day before Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort's birthday, who was not yet of nightclub age. This concert on Montfort's birthday celebrates Ancient Future's 40 years at the forefront of the world fusion music movement.
The first set of the concert will feature original band members Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Benjy Wertheimer (tabla, esraj), and Mindia Devi Klein (bansuri, silver flute).
The second set will feature band members from Ancient Future's major label releases along with top master musicians from around the world who have a long history of cross cultural music collaborations with the band. Check the press release and Facebook event pages periodically for surprise announcements of featured musicians.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019, 8 PM
Freight and Salvage
2020 Addison Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
Doors Open: 7 PM
Purchase Tix: $20 in advance at the F&S, $24 at the door. All tickets are subject to an additional $4 per ticket facility fee.
Box Office Phone: 510-644-2020, open 12:30 PM–7 PM (excluding holidays) and during all performances.
Email: info@freightandsalvage.org
Facebook Event


Poster (384k .pdf)

First Ancient Future Video

YouTube Video of Ancient Future Circa 1978. Shown: Matthew Montfort, Yusef Ali, Mindia Devi Klein, Phil Fong, Benjy Wertheimer

This concert video teaser features an amazing archaeological find: the very first video of Ancient Future, recorded in late 1978, months before Ancient Future's first concert! Thanks to Jonah and Mariposa at Marin Artists International who, after learning of the reunion concert, were able to rescue parts of Ancient Future's first video recording session from archival oblivion. This video showcases an excerpt from 'Eternal Embrace' by Phil Fong. Performances of two complete pieces have been recovered, and are now included as a video session on the eCD version of Visions of a Peaceful Planet.

Reunion Concert Edition With Long Lost 1978 Video

Visions of a Peaceful Planet by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2004) Audio/Video E-CD-R: $19.98 list

First Set: Original Bandmembers

Hi-Res Photo of Ancient Future Circa 1981 by Sherry Freeman (1.1 MB). Shown: Benjy Wertheimer, Mindia Devi Klein, Matthew Montfort
Ancient Future was formed in late 1978 by students at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California, including Mindia Devi Klein (who went by Mindy in those days), Matthew Montfort, Benjy Wertheimer, and Phil Fong.
On April 19, 2015, the original lineup of Ancient Future performed together for the first time this century to a full house at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. Sadly, Phil Fong was unable to attend the reunion as he was battling ALS. He passed away on July 18, 2016.
The first set will feature all three surviving original Ancient Future bandmembers: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Benjy Wertheimer (tabla, esraj), Mindia Devi Klein (bansuri and silver flute).
If enough funds are raised through ticket presales and donations, there may be additional featured guest artists. Check the press release and Facebook event pages periodically for surprise announcements.
Facebook Event
Press Release

Matthew Montfort (band leader, scalloped fretboard guitar)

Matthew Montfort is the leader of Ancient Future. He is pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar (an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar), and studied with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the note-bending techniques to the guitar. In 2009, he released his first solo guitar recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, which reached #8 on Zone Music Reporter's World Radio Chart. He is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com, a curated "best of" site, and has been featured in Guitar Player Magazine. He has performed concerts worldwide, and live on national radio and TV shows such as the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. 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.

Mindia Devi Klein (Indian bansuri and silver flute)

Mindia Devi Klein is a founding member of Ancient Future and an award winning musician, composer and educator known for her haunting Indian bansuri flute music. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she began her formal music training at the tender age of two with African American folk singer Charity Bailey. Early exposure to the jazz greats and the vast diversity of the world's music left her hungering for a doorway into the mystic heart and roots of music. She followed her muse to California and the Ali Akbar College of Music where she began training with the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan for over 40 years. She also trained under the late bansuri maestro G.S. Sachdev and then learned in India under guidance of world renown bansuri flutist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. She is a recipient of the American Institute for Indian Studies Smithsonian Fellowship, the Fulbright Scholarship in Balinese gamelan, and numerous arts and composition awards.

Benjy Wertheimer (tabla, esraj)

Benjy Wertheimer, a founding member of Ancient Future, is an award-winning musician, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Miten, Jai Uttal, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, Zakir Hussain, and G. S. Sachdev. Benjy has been a student of Indian classical music for over 40 years, sitting with some of the greatest masters of that tradition, including Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan and Z. M. Dagar. Along with the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart, he was a contributing composer and member of the Zakir Hussain Rhythm Experience. For over five years, Benjy scored music for the internationally syndicated NBC series Santa Barbara, and his CD Circle of Fire went to #1 on the international New Age radio charts in 2002. Making his home in Portland, Oregon, he now tours internationally with his wife Heather in the kirtan group Shantala.

Second Set: Ancient Future Hear and Now

The second set will feature band members from Ancient Future's major label releases and top master musicians from around the world. The lineup will depend on funds raised through ticket presales and donations. Check the press release and Facebook event pages periodically for surprise announcements.
Facebook Event
Press Releasel

Coconspirators and Likely Guest Artists

Georges Lammam (Arabic violin)

Georges Lammam was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Of Palestinian descent, he is a solo violinist exemplifying the Arab style of instrumental improvisation. He toured in Bolivia with renowned artists Eddie and Gabriel Navia, and joined stellar performers hosted by JoinedHands (USA NP), organized by Marcus Lovett (Phantom of the Opera), to support refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan in the refugee camp in Chalkida, Greece. His compositions and performance excerpts are included in scores for two award-winning documentaries:  Occupation 101 and Tea on the Axis of Evil, and he recorded a dabke (an Arab folk dance) in a 2016 feature film, Wrestling Jerusalem by Aaron Davidman. Ancient Future bandleader Matthew Montfort met Georges Lammam at the Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp in Mendocino in 1993. In 1998 Georges Lammam performed on a track for Ancient Future's 7th release, Planet Passion. He has been touring with the band since 2001, including trips to the East Coast, up and down the West Coast, and the Southwest.

Vishal Nagar (Indian tabla)

Considered one of the most gifted tabla players of his generation, Vishal Nagar wasn't yet born when Ancient Future performed their first concert in 1979. But he was being introduced to rhythm and melody while still in the womb, as his mother is the renowned Kathak dancer and vocalist, Urmila Nagar. He began to play tabla as a toddler as soon as he was tall enough to reach the drums. He had intense rhythmic training for a brief period with the late Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan of the Delhi Gharana, and after his Ustad's untimely demise, continued under the guidance of Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan. Vishal has had the privilege of performing with many renowned Indian classical artists including Ustad Shujaat Khan, Vidhwan Trichur Ramachandran, Pandit Ramesh Misra, and Kala Ramnath, and has also collaborated with musicians from around the world such as the Ghanaian Guitarist Koo Nimo with whom he appeared in WOMAD USA (a world music festival started by Peter Gabriel). He began performing and recording with Ancient Future in 2013, and has since performed seven tours with the band. He is prominently featured on Ancient Future's Yearning for the Wind, which was the highest rated recording on Ethnocloud for April 2014, holding #1 spots in both the video and audio categories.

Pandit Habib Khan (sitar)

Pandit Habib Khan is regarded as one of the best sitar players in the country today. He was born into a family of musicians and can trace his lineage back several generations to when classical music enjoyed the patronage of the nobility and royalty of India. He began his training at the tender age of five under the strict eye of his accomplished father, Ustad Hameed Jaffer Khan. Habib Khan has carved out a distinct style of his own which is a blend of his father's traditional techniques and his own imaginative inventions. He has recorded three Indian jazz fusion albums featuring bandleader Matthew Montfort. Habib Khan began performing concerts with Ancient Future in 1998, and is prominently featured on Ancient Future's 7th release, Planet Passion. Between Ancient Future and Habib Khan's Indian Jazz Ensemble, Montfort and Khan have performed over a hundred concerts together in the USA, India, and the Middle East.

Doug McKeehan (keys)

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. In 2008 he was commissioned to compose and perform live music for the Diablo Ballet's production Jazz Fever. He cofounded Air Craft with violinist Bruce Bowers, which released a highly acclaimed jazz fusion album, So Near, So Far. He is a first call jazz pianist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since joining Ancient Future in 1985, he has performed hundreds of concerts with the band.

Ian Dogole (percussion)

Ian Dogole has articulated his vision of global fusion music as a multi percussionist, 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. Since joining Ancient Future in 1985, he has performed hundreds of concerts with the band.

Jim Hurley (violin)

Jim Hurley began playing violin in the Livermore public schools, and later explored rock guitar and bass, jazz and world music. Influenced profoundly by South Indian violinist L. Shankar, he incorporates styles from bebop to zydeco, European classical to Zairean soukous. He studied violin with Dr. Madeline Schatz, protege of Jascha Heifetz and Josef Gingold, at Humboldt State University, where he earned his B.A. in Music. Jim's professional credits include performances and recordings with Queen Ida's Grammy-winning Bon Temps Zydeco Band, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (with Jon Anderson from Yes), Kenneth Nash, Dan Hicks, Al Stewart, Josh Groban, Smokey Robinson, Stanley Jordan, the Waybacks, Tempest, and many other artists. He has performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live, NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, and at numerous festivals including New Orleans Jazz and Heritage, Monterey Jazz, Winnipeg Folk, and Strawberry Music. Since joining Ancient Future in 1988, he has performed hundreds of concerts with the band.

Mariah Parker (santur)

Mariah Parker worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and Mickey Hart on the Planet Drum project while completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz. She has worked with many musicians including the late composers Pauline Oliveros and Dumisani Maraire (mbira master from Zimbabwe) . She has studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauléon. She began performing with Ancient Future in 2005 starting with a tour of Spain. She has released two recordings of her compositions on Ancient-Future.Com Records: Sangria, her 2009 debut, and 2017's Indo Latin Jazz Live In Concert, which received rave reviews and quickly rose to #32 on the JazzWeek radio charts.

Ancient Future History

Original Lineup

Hi-Res Photo of Ancient Future Circa 1979 (1.3 MB). Shown: Benjy Wertheimer, Phil Fong, Mindia Devi Klein, Matthew Montfort
This lineup of Ancient Future made two recordings that are now considered world fusion classics. In December, 1978, the band went into Tres Virgos Studio in Mill Valley to record Montfort's song Moonbath. The song became the springboard for the first Ancient Future record, Visions of a Peaceful Planet. The concept for Natural Rhythms, the band's second record, grew out of a spontaneous recording session at a friend's recording studio near a frog pond. The sound of croaking frogs was leaking into the studio, so Montfort went out to the pond with a zither and began to play, and found that certain rhythms produced musical responses from the frogs. Several months later, Montfort and Klein went to Bali to study gamelan music. They were amazed to find paintings all over the island portraying Balinese rice paddy frogs playing gamelan instruments, so they ventured out into the rice paddies where a frog jam session ensued that became part of the Natural Rhythms release.

Original Lineup Releases

Visions of a Peaceful Planet by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2004).
Natural Rhythms by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com 2005).

Major Label Period

Hi-Res Photo by Irene Young of Ancient Future Circa 1990 (14.7" x 9.7" jpg, 7.2 MB). Shown: Matthew Montfort, Jim Hurley, Doug McKeehan, Ian Dogole
"Ancient Future is a rare kind of band that might simultaneously aggravate purists, confound New Age dilettantes, seduce skeptics, and dazzle just about everybody else. Delicious compositions, intricate arrangements, crisp playing and impeccable production put these ambitious voyagers in a league of their own." - Derk Richardson, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
This lineup of Ancient Future that performed on the band's influential major label recordings played over a hundred concerts together. In 2011, they reunited to perform concerts at venues from Yoshi's in San Francisco to the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In honor of the reunion, World Without Walls was released digitally by Capitol Records for the first time ever at major digital retailers such as iTunes. Twenty two years after its initial release in 1990, broadcasters worldwide voted the record as one of the top 5 world music releases of 2012.

Major Label Releases

Quiet Fire by Ancient Future (Narada/MCA 1012).
Dreamchaser by Ancient Future (Sona Gaia/MCA 154).
World Without Walls by Ancient Future (Sona Gaia/MCA 163).
Asian Fusion by Ancient Future (Narada Equinox ND-63023).

Video

YouTube Video of Ancient Future at their 'World Without Walls' Reunion at the Freight and Salvage. Shown: Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), Kash Killion (bass), Ian Dogole (percussion), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Mariah Parker (santur)

World Music Collaboration Period

Hi-Res Photo of Ancient Future Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi by Julie Marten (3.75 x 5.64 jpg, 1.7 MB). Shown: Pandit Habib Khan (sitar), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar)
Over the years, Ancient Future has expanded its musical vision through collaborations with master musicians from more than two dozen countries, cultures, and musical traditions who are now an integral part of what is today more than just a band. Ancient Future has grown to become a large multinational music ensemble with many smaller ensembles within it, enabling Ancient Future to realize its core mission of creating world fusion music. Some popular offerings include the Indo-Arabic, Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi, and Asian Jazz programs. Through cross cultural exchange, Ancient Future has created a musical world without borders.

Hi-Res Photo of Ancient Future Indo-Arabic Roots (3.6 x 1.7 jpg, 474k). Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Georges Lammam (Arabic violin), Vishal Nagar (Indian tabla)

World Music Collaboration Releases

Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com Records AF-2010).
Archive of Future Ancient Recordings by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF-2030).

Videos

YouTube Video of Yearning for the Wind by Ancient Future. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Vishal Nagar (tabla).

YouTube Video of El Zaffa from Planet Passion by Ancient Future. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Georges Lammam (Arabic violin), Salaheddin Takesh (Arabic percussion), Doug McKeehan (keyboards), Sapphira (belly dance).

Ancient-Future.Com Recording Artists Perform at the San Francisco International Arts Festival

The 2017 San Francisco International Arts Festival features three performances showcasing Ancient-Future.Com Recording Artists. Ancient Future performs a Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi June 1 at 8 PM at the Fort Mason Chapel. Mariah Parker brings her Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet June 3 at 6 PM to Gallery 308. Scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort, master Italian guitarist Giacomo Fiore, and German fingerstyle guitarist extraordinaire Teja Gerken hold a Global Guitar Summit June 4 at 3 PM at the Fort Mason Chapel.

June 1, 8 PM, Fort Mason Chapel:

Ancient Future Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi

Shown: Pandit Habib Khan, Matthew Montfort

Featuring Pandit Habib Khan (Sitar), Matthew Montfort (Guitar), and Ferhan Qureshi (Tabla)

Jugalbandi is a classical North Indian musical duet (meaning literally "tied together"). The guitar is not often used in the music of India. However, Matthew Montfort has studied sitar and is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar. This jugalbandi works well because Matthew Montfort is a guitarist with knowledge of sitar, and Pandit Habib Khan has been described as the "Jimi Hendrix of the sitar" by L'Orient le Jour, Beirut's French language newspaper. They will be accompanied by tabla master Ferhan Qureshi.

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.
Thursday, June 1, 2017, 8 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Fort Mason Chapel
San Francisco, CA 94109
Adm.: $25 gen., $12.50 under 18. Students with ID and seniors, $4 off cover price. Festival Pass (5 shows for $70).
Box office: 415-345-7575. Buy Tix.
Event page. Facebook artist page. Facebook event page. Full press release.

Poster (pdf)

Concert Review

"Their concert was billed as a guitar-sitar ‘jugalbandi’ concert – a blend of classical Eastern and Western music featuring Montfort on guitar and Pandit Habib Kahn on sitar, with guests on dulcimer and percussion – and was simply an outstanding presentation. What made the 'jugalbandi' concert so special was the fact that guitar is seldom featured in Indian classic music – yet Montfort is a pioneer of such and uses the scalloped fretboard guitar to bring out the best in Indian sounds. His background as a student of the notoriously-difficult sitar lends to translations which shine on guitar; and by having a blend of sitar and rare guitar interactions, the concert became an extraordinary presentation indeed, spiced by the intimacy of stage which felt nearly small and close enough to be a living room. Ancient Future’s focus on world fusion music has always produced extraordinary artist interactions and results; but this concert was an exceptional meld of East and West and offered up unique fingerings, approaches and collaborative efforts. It also held the unique ability to reach out not only to audience members already versed in Indian classic music, but to newcomers to the genre. It’s not to be missed." — WorldDiscoveries.net

Video

Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi version of 'Dawn of Love' by Matthew Montfort (229k YouTube views)

June 3, 6 PM, Gallery 308, Fort Mason:

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

Shown: Mariah Parker, Matthew Montfort, Paul McCandless, Ian Dogole, Sascha Jacobsen, Jim Hurley

Featuring Mariah Parker (piano, santur), Paul McCandless (woodwinds), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Sascha Jacobsen (bass) and Ian Dogole (percussion)

Pianist Mariah Parker has just released her second recording of original compositions, Indo Latin Jazz Live In Concert, on Ancient-Future.Com Records. For this concert, Mariah adds chamber music to her mix. Her all-star Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet features Grammy winner Paul McCandless on woodwinds and chamber bassist Sascha Jacobsen along with guitarist Matthew Montfort, violinist Jim Hurley, and percussionist Ian Dogole from the world music group Ancient Future.
According to Latin Beat Magazine, "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." This chamber variation of the ensemble with its emphasis on strings will explore new compositions as well as rearrangements of existing work.

Shown: Mariah Parker
Saturday, June 3, 2017, 6 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Gallery 308, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94109
Adm.: $25 gen., $12.50 under 18. $30 reserved table, $35 reserved front table. Students with ID and seniors, $4 off cover price. Festival Pass, 5 shows for $70.
Box office: 415-345-7575. Buy Tix.
Event page. Facebook artist page. Facebook event page. Full press release.

Poster (pdf)

Video

Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble performs 'Sol de Barcelona'

June 4, 3 PM, Fort Mason Chapel:

Global Guitar Summit

Shown: Matthew Montfort, Giacomo Fiore, Teja Gerken

Featuring Matthew Montfort, Giacomo Fiore, and Teja Gerken

This Global Guitar Summit presents three international acoustic guitar virtuosos who will perform solo and ensemble pieces. The summit features American scalloped fretboard guitar and world fusion music pioneer Matthew Montfort, master Italian guitarist and musicologist Giacomo Fiore, and German fingerstyle guitarist extraordinaire Teja Gerken. The music performed will include new arrangements of classical works, Celtic music, Indian classical, contemporary compositions, popular songs, and much more.
Sunday, June 4, 2017, 3 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Fort Mason Chapel
San Francisco, CA 94109
Adm.: $25 gen., $12.50 under 18. Students with ID and seniors, $4 off cover price. Festival Pass, 5 shows for $70.
Box office: 415-345-7575. Buy Tix.
Event page. Facebook artist page. Facebook event page. Full press release.


Poster (pdf)

Videos

Matthew Montfort performs 'Soul Serenade' at Ancient Future's 30th Anniversary Concert.

Giacomo Fiore performs 'Sarabande pour Guitare' by Francis Poulenc.

Teja Gerken performs '1948' live.

Bios

Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar)

Performing June 1 with Ancient Future, June 3 with Mariah Parker, & June 4 at the Global Guitar Summit
Matthew Montfort is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument with a modified fretboard in which the wood between frets has been carved out in order to facilitate intricate note-bending ornaments. The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, he is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com for his work expanding the boundaries of guitar playing through the study of the world's great music traditions. For example, in 1979 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 scalloped fretboard guitar. He has performed worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra in Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai, and live on national radio and TV shows such as the Echoes Living Room Concerts on PRI 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.
These will be the first San Francisco performances on Montfort's new custom Martin guitar. C.F. Martin's Dick Boak, who has been involved in the conception of more than one hundred and forty signature guitar collaborations with the top musical talents of our time, worked with Montfort to help design the instrument, which features a large sound hole to add volume, an extra upper bout sound hole so that Montfort can hear the guitar better, a cutaway with extra frets protruding into the sound hole to accommodate his extended playing range, and a short scale yet wide neck to allow for greater string bending capability. Master luthier Alan Perlman scalloped the fretboard and added finishing touches to complete this amazing instrument in 2016.
"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

Pandit Habib Khan (sitar)

Performing June 1 with Ancient Future
Pandit Habib Khan is regarded as one of the best sitar players in the country today. He was born into a family of musicians and can trace his lineage back several generations to when classical music enjoyed the patronage of the nobility and royalty of India. He began his training at the tender age of five under the strict eye of his accomplished father, Ustad Hameed Jaffer Khan. The Jaffer Khan family was from Indore and were well known for their unique style of playing the sitar, melding the effect of the human voice and the instrumental tone into a harmonious whole. Habib Khan has carved out a distinct style of his own which is a blend of his father's traditional techniques and his own imaginative inventions. He is as much at ease with light classical and religious music as he is with pure classical renderings of ragas.

Ferhan Qureshi (tabla)

Performing June 1 with Ancient Future
Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi is a senior disciple of the legendary tabla master Ustad Tari Khan. Prior to his ongoing training with Ustad Tari Khan, Ferhan took his initial lessons in Hindustani (North Indian classical) music theory and practice with Surinder Singh Mann. Ferhan studies the Punjab gharana (school) of classical tabla which both of his teachers represent. In addition to performing tabla lehara (tabla solo), Ferhan Qureshi has also accompanied numerous distinguished classical artists (vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers) both in the United States and in Pakistan.

Mariah Parker (composition, piano, santur)

Performing June 3 with Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

Mariah Parker has been playing music from the time she could reach the keys on the grand piano in her family home. While completing her degree in music at UC Santa Cruz, she worked with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and drummer Mickey Hart on the “Planet Drum” project and became fascinated with the possibilities of bridging musical concepts from different traditions. She has performed her original compositions in festivals in the US and Europe. A gifted composer and band leader, she released her first solo recording of her compositions, “Sangria,” in February of 2009. This release received extensive airplay and critical acclaim worldwide.
“Dazzling…. Parker’s subtle and sensuous sounds reflect exotic flavors of India, the Middle East and Latin America.” — Palo Alto Daily News

Paul McCandless (woodwinds)

Performing June 3 with Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

Grammy Award winner and world renowned jazz superstar, Paul McCandless has brought a soaring lyricism to his playing and composing that has been integral to the ensemble sound of two seminal world jazz bands – the original Paul Winter Consort and the relentlessly innovative quartet, Oregon. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, McCandless has specialized in an unusually broad palette of both single and double reed instruments that reflect his grounding in both classical and jazz disciplines. As a collaborator and solo artist, he has performed on more than 200 albums and appeared with such renowned all-star musicians as Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Marsalis, Lyle Mays, and Mark Isham.

Jim Hurley (violin)

Performing June 3 with Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

Influenced profoundly by South Indian violinist L. Shankar, Jim Hurley incorporates styles from bebop to zydeco, European classical to Zairean soukous. He has been musical director and composer for several theater productions, including an entire score in the Balinese gamelan style. His compositions have received widespread acclaim and extensive airplay. Live TV appearances include Saturday Night Live (with Queen Ida) and CNN's Showbiz Tonight (with Dan Hicks). He has toured Europe and Japan and performed at numerous major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Sascha Jacobsen (acoustic bass)

Performing June 3 with Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

In addition to leading his own group, the Modern Art Quintet, which plays his original works, Sascha Jacobsen has performed with Rita Moreno, Hugh Jackman, Martin Short, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman among others. He has served on the faculty at Humboldt State University, Laney College, Golden Gate Bass Camp, and the Sequoia Chamber Music Festival. Sascha is in demand as a performer, composer, and arranger with commissions from the San Francisco Arts Council, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, San Jose Dance, San Jose Youth Symphony and SF Friends of Chamber Music.

Ian Dogole (global percussion)

Performing June 3 with Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet

For nearly 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 recordings as a band leader, and has recorded and performed with artists such as Hamza el Din, Tito La Rosa, and Alex DeGrassi. His instrumental array includes drums and melodic instruments from Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia. He has received numerous grants, including a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and multiple grants from the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.

Giacomo Fiore (guitar)

Performing June 4 at the Global Guitar Summit
Giacomo Fiore is an Italian guitarist and musicologist who has performed across the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Europe, giving world and U.S. premieres of classical, just intonation, and electric guitar works by Larry Polansky, Ron Nagorcka, Kenji Oh, Garry Eister, Agustin Castilla-Avila, and many others. He has appeared at the Sarzana, Healdsburg, Sierra Nevada, Santa Barbara, and Cervo Guitar Festivals, released several solo recordings, and published articles in Classical Guitar and Ukulele magazines. Currently he teaches at USF, the SF Conservatory, and UCSC, and is a member of the new music ensemble Wild Rumpus.
"Scenes from Nek Chand ... was given an inspired performance by Fiore, who brought appropriate character to each movement: sensitive introspection for 'Leaning Lady,' mercurial dancelike energy for 'Rock Garden,' and an admirable flexibility for 'Sinuous Arcade With Swings in the Arches.'" – SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

Teja Gerken (guitar)

Performing June 4 at the Global Guitar Summit
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 Kottkeand Micheal 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

Ancient-Future.Com Records Featuring Artists Performing at SFIAF

The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings

The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2030)
The next Ancient Future record is fan funded. There is already over an hour of music in A.F.A.R available right now to supporters, with more tracks coming as money is raised for production. Two of the tracks feature both Pandit Habib Khan and Matthew Montfort.

Yearning for the Wind

Yearning for the Wind by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 90352)
Yearning for the Wind is the first audio/video release in Ancient Future history, available both as a digital download and an enhanced CD that includes an HD video with 96/24 audio. Composed by Matthew Montfort, Yearning for the Wind is a poignant piece based on Rag Kalyan, an evening raga that corresponds to the Lydian mode. A duet with Indian tabla virtuoso Vishal Nagar, who is considered one of the most gifted tabla players of his generation, Yearning for the Wind is set in matta tal, a nine beat rhythmic cycle. Yearning for the Wind rose to the top of the Ethnocloud World Music Charts, earning #1 spots in both the video and audio track categories, and propelling Ancient Future to the #1 rated artist spot.

Planet Passion

Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010)
"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. 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." — LEO WEEKLY

Indo Latin Jazz Live in Concert

Indo Latin Jazz Live In Concert by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 20142)
In 2009, Mariah Parker launched her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble with a sold-out debut concert at Yoshi's in Oakland, California. Mariah’s new release for AncientFuture.com records, “Indo Latin Jazz Live in Concert,” captures the magic of that first performance, as well as subsequent Northern California concerts at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley and a studio session at Bob Weir's TRI Studios in San Rafael. These multi-track live recordings were painstakingly mixed and mastered over a seven-year period by veteran Ancient Future producer Matthew Montfort.

"This is sophisticated stuff, an album of global fusion performed by a group with character, charisma and the confidence that comes across when world-class musicians at the top of their games come together and create magic in the here and now of a live performance." — Marin Independent Journal

Sangria

Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2017)
This debut recording features her original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India, and includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. Sangria received airplay on over 468 New World, Jazz and Latin jazz radio programs, and earned over 365 reviews and media placements, including two songs that ascended to the Smooth Jazz Now Top 100 Songs of 2009 chart.

Sympathetic Serenade

Sympathetic Serenade for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2012)
Matthew Montfort was added to DigitalDreamDoor's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists list partly in response to the release of this EP. When Montfort was working on his 2009 solo recording, he recorded a number of spontaneously improvised serenades. Were it not for some serendipitous sequencing coupled with the allure of alliteration, it's likely that 'Sympathetic Serenade' would have been released as the eighth improvisation on what became Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar. Instead, this evocative Spanish serenade/raga hybrid receives a mini EP treatment on Matthew Montfort's Sympathetic Serenade for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar. The nearly 11 minute long track is available as a download complete with nine pages of digital liner notes, and as a signed CD-R exclusively at Ancient-Future.Com.

Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar

Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2008)

The debut full length solo recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar. While previously known more for his compositions for the trendsetting world music group Ancient Future, this first solo effort features his improvisational music. The recording debuted at #8 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 February 2009 World Radio Chart, and held the #34 spot on the Top 100 2009.

188 Word Radio Announcement

Ancient-Future.Com Records artists are featured in three different programs at the San Francisco International Arts Festival. On Thursday, June 1, at 8 PM at Fort Mason Chapel in San Francisco, the trailblazing world music group Ancient Future will perform a Guitar-Sitar Jugalbandi featuring scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort and sitar master Pandit Habib Khan with tabla accompaniment by Ferhan Qureshi. On Saturday, June 3, at 6 pm at Gallery 308 in Fort Mason, composer, pianist, and santurist Mariah Parker will perform with her Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Sextet featuring Paul McCandless on woodwinds, Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Sascha Jacobsen on bass, Jim Hurley on violin, and Ian Dogole on global percussion. On Sunday, June 4, at 3 PM at Fort Mason Chapel, three international acoustic guitar virtuosos will perform solo and ensemble pieces in a Global Guitar Summit featuring American scalloped fretboard guitar and world fusion music pioneer Matthew Montfort, master Italian guitarist and musicologist Giacomo Fiore, and German fingerstyle guitarist extraordinaire Teja Gerken. For more information, visit www.sfiaf.org. Admission for each show is $25 general, and $12.50 for those under the age of 18. A Festival Pass for five shows is $70.