May 2013 Issue
Welcome to the Ancient Future Times
In this issue:
Halanda Studio Presents Ancient Future In Concert May 11
•Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard and fretless guitars) and Ferhan Qureshi (tabla)
Auctioning the Past to Pay for the Future
•Rare Items from the Ancient Future Historical Archives Auctioned to Fund the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings
Summer Solstice Serenades at Garden Gate
•Ancient Future Duet Featuring World Guitar Pioneer Matthew Montfort and Tabla Virtuoso Vishal Nagar
Spring into Summer Lessons Sale
•Summer is a Great Time to Expand Your Horizons with Fun and Effective Music Lessons
Halanda Studio Presents Ancient Future In Concert May 11
Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard and fretless guitars) and Ferhan Qureshi (tabla)
Saturday, May 11, 7 PM
Halanda Studio for Dance and Fitness
1062 Lincoln Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
Registration: $20 in advance through Halanda Studio PayPal, $25 at the door.
Info: 408-246-1129 or 408-369-1304
Email: info@halanda.com
Venue Website: http://halanda.com/calendar-e.html#AncientFuture
Press Release: http://www.ancient-future.com/pr_5_11_13.html
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/586673544684834/
Celtic Raga Program
Celtic (kel'tik), adj. of the Celts, their Indo-European languages, culture, etc.
raga (räg'a), n. [Hind.] a melodic recipe for a mood including ascending and descending note patterns and a hierarchy of note importance
This Mother's Day weekend, strains of ancient Celtic music, Spanish serenades, and Indian raga will emanate from this high energy improvisatory duet featuring world guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort accompanied by Ferhan Qureshi on tabla.
Matthew Montfort
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. 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 the important guitar magazines including GUITAR PLAYER, ACOUSTIC GUITAR, and VINTAGE GUITAR, 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 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.
Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi (tabla)
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.
Auctioning the Past to Pay for the Future
Rare Items from the Ancient Future Historical Archives Auctioned to Fund the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings
Complete Set of Rare Cassettes by Ancient Future
To raise money to fund the next Ancient Future recording, the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, we are debuting a program to auction off rare items from the historical archives of the band Ancient Future. First up on the auction block is a complete set of new old stock original virgin unopened cassette copies of Ancient Future's four major label releases.
Quiet Fire (Narada/MCA 1012. >YTmusic) established Ancient Future as a strong force in the record stores by selling over 55,000 copies upon release. It features Windham Hill recording artists Alex De Grassi and Darol Anger. Dreamchaser (Sona Gaia/MCA 154. >YTmusic) thrust Ancient Future to #2 on the May 1989 JAZZIZ National Airplay Chart and received a 10 out of 10 rating in CD REVIEW. World Without Walls (Sona Gaia/MCA 163. >YTmusic) features the renowned North Indian tabla master, Zakir Hussain, performing with Ancient Future. Upon its reissue on iTunes in 2011, it was voted by broadcasters worldwide as one of the top 100 world music records of the year. Asian Fusion (Narada Equinox ND-63023. >YTmusic) put Ancient Future in the TOWER PULSE! Top Ten Best Contemporary Instrumental Releases of 1993 List (#4) and was GUITAR PLAYER magazine's "Pick" for April 1994.
Rare copies of these out of print recordings are fetching high prices online, as evidenced by this July 2011 review of World Without Walls by Chris Spector at MIDWEST RECORD: "Bloody hell, get me some Alzheimer's drugs, will you? Ancient Future was on Narada's Sona Gaia subsidiary with a world beat album that was ahead of it's time and they were hanging out with Zappa's world beat buddies and I don't remember any of it? More bloody hell, new copies of this are going for over $200 on Amazon! How did I miss this? This is the world beat/jazz/pop album for people that shy away from things called world beat and jazz. Fun stuff throughout that still sounds fresh and in the moment today."
The auction takes place through Ancient Future's eBay store (ancientfuturemusic), and unlike the $200 copies on Amazon, the money goes to support the creation of new music. Included with the four original cassettes is a certificate of authenticity signed by Ancient Future band leader Matthew Montfort, and a 128 kbps download subscription to the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings. Happy bidding!
The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings
The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings concept is to involve you, fans of world fusion music, in supporting the creation of a collection of new recordings that are available to subscribers as they are created. This year, there have been a number of upgrades to the project:
- Beautiful digital liner notes available now.
- Immediately download files in MP3, CD, or hi-res audiophile quality.
- Eight expertly mixed and mastered live and studio tracks totaling over 52 minutes in the archive available to subscribers right now.
- Files to print a cover, tray card, and label for an A.F.A.R. So Far CD are included for CD and hi-res subscribers.
- To insure the audio is captured at the highest quality possible, investments were made in the monitoring and audio conversion systems.
- Michael Braden, a great videographer working with top quality high resolution digital cameras, has been involved for select sessions.
Enjoy the new additions and improvements to the archive! Please sign up for A.F.A.R. now and help support the creation of this music. You can participate for as little as $15 (a real bargain for so much music), or as much as you care to donate. Your help and participation is essential and very much appreciated.
Recording Newsletter. $15 (receive 128 kbps downloads): Subscribe @ $15. Download Supporter. $25 (320 kbps downloads): Subscribe @ $25. Limited Edition CD Sponsor. $50 (all previous plus CD quality audio): Subscribe @ $50. Honorary A & R Representative. $75 (all previous plus video and 24 bit audio): Subscribe @ $75. Donor VIP. Make Additional Donation.
Summer Solstice Serenades at Garden Gate
Ancient Future Duet Featuring World Guitar Pioneer Matthew Montfort and Tabla Virtuoso Vishal Nagar
Friday, June 21, 8 PM
Garden Gate Creativity Center
2911 Claremont Ave. @ Ashby Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705
Tix: $25.
Info: Call Rebecca Trujillo at 510-472-2834 or Diana Rowan at 510-717-7148.
Email: gardengatecenter@gmail.com
Venue Website: http://www.gardengatecreate.com
Press Release: http://www.ancient-future.com/pr_6_21_13.html
Experience Summer Solstice Serenades with strains of flamenco and Indian raga in this concert featuring world guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort accompanied by renowned Indian tabla virtuoso Vishal Nagar. The program will feature music from the ground breaking world music recordings of Ancient Future along with serenades from Matthew Montfort's solo guitar releases: Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar and Sympathetic Serenade, for which he was lauded as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists.
Vishal Nagar (tabla)
"He has magic in his hands" - Hindustan Times
Born into a family of musicians, Vishal has been surrounded by music in an extremely musically creative and artistic environment. 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). Vishal has had the privilege of performing with many renowned Indian artists, and has performed with masters of other world music traditions such as the Ghanaian guitarist Koo Nimo with whom he appeared at 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.
Spring into Summer Lessons Sale
Summer is a Great Time to Expand Your Horizons with Fun and Effective Music Lessons
60 Minute Skype Lesson: Sale -$60. Buy Link. Four 30 Minute Private Lessons (San Rafael, California): Sale - $150. Buy Link.
Recently recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists, Matthew Montfort teaches all styles of guitar (and other fretted instruments including ukulele, bass, and mandolin) along with world rhythms, music theory, and repertoire for all instruments. 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. Private lessons and online Skype tutorials covering this material are available as well. And for a limited time, an additional discount is automatically offered on a Skype tutorial with a book purchase through Ancient-Future.Com!
He is also accepting a limited number of students at his studio in Marin County, California, and will travel to student's homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gift certificates for private lessons in Marin are available, and for online lessons worldwide via Skype.
To contact Matthew Montfort about lessons, e-mail him at info@ancient-future.com or call 415-459-1892.