Ancient Future Times: Festivities Begin for Ancient Future's 40th Year of World Fusion
February 2019 Issue:
40th Anniversary Preview Performance Streams Live
•KPFA 94.1 FM (kpfa.org), Thursday, February 7, 10 PM PST
Ancient Future 40th Anniversary Concert
•Tuesday, February 12, 8 PM, Freight and Salvage, Berkeley
Get More Enjoyment Out of Music
•World Music Studies for Listeners
•Each Concert Program Features a Different Lineup!
Ancient Future World Without Walls Reunion Concert
•Save the Date: 5/26/19 at SFIAF
40th Anniversary Preview Performance Streams Live
Original Members Benjy Wertheimer, Phil Fong, Mindia Devi Klein, Matthew Montfort
KPFA 94.1 FM (kpfa.org), Thursday, February 7, 10 PM PST
Want to hear some of Ancient Future's early music performed live, but don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area?
You are in luck, because Ancient Future will perform live on The Hear and Now with Derk Richardson on KPFA, 94.1 FM, Berkeley, California. The broadcast will take place on Thursday, February 7, at 10 PM PST, which is Mindia Devi Klein's birthday.
Special thanks go out to Jason Ranjit Parmar (tabla, udu) and Mariah Parker (piano, santur). They will be filling in for original Ancient Future members Benjy Wertheimer, who will be flying in for the 40th anniversary concert, and the late Phil Fong.
The broadcast also streams live. Visit kpfa.org at 10 PM PST and click the Listen Live link. The archived broadcast will be available for two weeks.
Ancient Future 40th Anniversary Concert
Ancient Future Circa 1981
Tuesday, February 12, 8 PM, Freight and Salvage, Berkeley
With Founding Members Matthew Montfort (Guitars), Mindia Devi (Flutes), and Benjy Wertheimer (Tabla)
Plus Georges Lammam (Violin), Vishal Nagar (Tabla), Doug McKeehan (Keys) and Mariah Parker (Santur)
Tuesday, February 12, 2019 8 PM
Freight and Salvage
2020 Addison Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
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
Press Release
Facebook Event
Poster (384k .pdf)
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. Purchase your tickets now to insure the success of this one time event!
Support the 40th Anniversary Season with a Tax Deductible Contribution!
By making a tax deductible donation to Ancient Future through InterMusic SF, you can help support Ancient Future's local Northern California concert season, provide seed money to bring Ancient Future to perform in your area, or support new compositions and recordings.
Make a Tax Deductible Donation to Ancient Future Through InterMusic SF!
You can also help by signing up to support Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings.
First Set
The first set of the 40th anniversary concert will feature original band members Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Benjy Wertheimer on tabla, and Mindia Devi Klein on bansuri and silver flutes. Mariah Parker will play piano and fill in for the late Phil Fong on santur.
YouTube Video of Ancient Future Circa 1978
'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) $19.98 list. Buy Audio/Video E-CD Now.
Second Set
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. Confirmed performers include Georges Lammam on Arabic violin, Vishal Nagar on tabla, and Doug McKeehan on keyboards.
YouTube Video of 'El Zaffa' by Ancient Future
YouTube Video of 'Yearning for the Wind' by Ancient Future
Get More Enjoyment Out of Music
World Music Studies for Listeners!
Want to get more out of listening to music? Study of music traditions isn't just for musicians. The more you know about music, the more you will get out of listening to it. For example, many listeners are attracted to the spiritual feeling of Indian classical music. But knowing the basics of tala (Indian rhythm cycles) will greatly enhance what one experiences while listening.
A great way to get started on a journey to become a better listener is to visit the education section of Ancient-Future.Com. Included are explanations of African, Arabic, Balinese, and Indian traditions along with some basic exercises to practice that require no instruments to perform. As you learn more, you may wish to take a private Skype lesson to continue your studies.
Skype Sale
30 Minute Skype Lesson. Normally $50. Sale $40. Buy 1 Now.
Free Sonoma County Library Concert Series
YouTube Video of Very First Meeting of Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang
Each Concert Program Features a Different Lineup!
Matthew Montfort leads this series of free hour long educational library concerts. Every show in the series features a different program with different musicians!
- Wednesday, February 20, 7 PM, Ancient Future History with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Mindia Devi Klein (bansuri, silver flute), and Mariah Parker (santur), Petaluma Regional Library, 100 Fairgrounds Dr., Petaluma, CA 94952.
- Saturday March 9, 3 PM, Global Guitar Summit with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Teja Gerken (fingerstyle guitar), Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, CA 95446. (Also performing Friday, March 8, 8 PM, Wu Wei Tea Temple, 1820 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA 94930. Donation: $10 - $20.)
- Saturday, March 30, 2 PM, World Without Walls Trio with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Doug McKeehan (keys), and Ian Dogole (percussion), Northwest Santa Rosa Library, 150 Coddingtown Center, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.
- Saturday, April 20, 2 PM, Guitar and Arabic Percussion Duet with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Antoine Lammam (Arabic percussion), Central Santa Rosa Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404.
- Saturday April 27, 2 PM, Guitar and Pipa Duet with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Shenshen Zhang (pipa), Sonoma Valley Regional Library, 755 West Napa Street, Sonoma, CA 95476.
- Saturday, May 4, 2 PM, Guitar and Tabla Duet with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Vishal Nagar (tabla), Rohnert Park-Cotati Library, 6250 Lynne Conde Way, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.
Ancient Future World Without Walls Reunion Concert
Photo by Irene Young of Ancient Future circa 1990
Save the Date: 5/26/19 at SFIAF
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, and Ian Dogole on percussion.
Sunday, May 26, 2019, 5 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Gallery 308, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94109