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Purple Nirvana

by Ancient Future

Ancient Future's First Ever Rock Cover Songs

Purple Nirvana is an EP featuring two original pieces showing unique influences from world music traditions paired with the first ever popular cover songs by Ancient Future: "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. The later was rediscovered in December of 2023 when Matthew Montfort was preparing his piece "East of the Sun" from the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings for public release. After recording "East of the Sun" on April 1, 2011, the inspiration came to record the cover that became "Spirit of Nirvana" at the same session.

Purple Nirvana Save Stream: https://orcd.co/purplenirvana

Purple Nirvana EP Links:
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1789397899 (Preorder and Preview Now)
Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0DSJXVYQW (Preorder Now)
Qobuz: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/purple-nirvana-ancient-future/oeysiuv85swnc (Preorder Now in Hi-Res 24-Bit/96 kHz )

Recording Session Video of Trash Can Ending

East of the Sun Video from Recording Session

Track List

(Coming April 4, 2025)

>orcd.co/purplenirvana (All Participating Digital Platforms). >iTunes.

1. Spirit of Nirvana (Extended Intro) (Nirvana) 5:55.
2. East of the Sun (Trio) (Matthew Montfort) 4:28.
3. Purple Nam (Glissentar and Đàn Bầu Duet) (Matthew Montfort) 1:18.
4. Purple Haze (Vietnamese Đàn Bầu Style) (Jimi Hendrix) 3:25.
5. Spirit of Nirvana (Streaming Intro) (Nirvana) 5:42.
6. Spirit of Nirvana (Radio Edit) (Nirvana) 5:23.

Available Now

Purple Nam & Purple Haze: https://orcd.co/purplenamhaze (Participating Digital Music Platforms)

Digital 45 Links:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4yFoh1Jc5O93qcIGc61qoi
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1763467873
Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/album/381931033
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/album/631317641
Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0DDJ8QNFH
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n4NoEOfQr46Con8qhR7fYLzEEPFabiM8g&si=flq1_wu6lPueTlGS
SoundCloud GO: https://soundcloud.com/ancient-future-band/sets/purple-nam-purple-haze
Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/artist/ancient-future/purple-nam-and-purple-haze-vietnamese-dan-bau-and-glissentar-style/ALxcgrpt4kqbfVq
freegalmusic: https://www.freegalmusic.com/album/825336203099/2
KKBox: https://www.kkbox.com/tw/tc/album/4mKoddBE2kVG51kTkv (Japan, Southeast Asia)
Qobuz: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/purple-nam-purple-haze-ancient-future/x5dg3bb2hy6ha (Hi-Res 24-Bit/96 kHz)

Instant Grats Tracks

An Instant Grat is a track on an album that can be downloaded before the album's release on iTunes and Amazon, and have that download count on Internet music charts on the release date. This means that people can enjoy ownership early and listen to the track as much as they like! With Internet access often at risk due to hacking, outages, and global conflicts, music ownership through downloads allows people to enjoy music even when the Internet is down.

East of the Sun (Trio) by Ancient Future. Available February 28, 2025.
Spirit of Nirvana (Radio Edit) by Ancient Future. Available March 16, 2025
Spirit of Nirvana (Extended Intro) by Ancient Future. Available March 19, 2025

Digital Liner Notes

Digital Liner Notes- $1.98 (coming soon): This download is a 17 page .pdf of liner notes for Purple Nirvana by Ancient Future featuring cover art, musicians biographies, and the historic connections leading to the release.

Related Single Release

East of the Sun

Studio Version with Paul McCandless, Oboe

by Ancient Future

This full studio version of "East of the Sun" features Paul McCandless (oboe), an important early musical influence on the founders of Ancient Future. He joins Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitars, fretless bass), Benjy Wertheimer (tabla), and Mariah Parker (santur).

The basic tracks for "East of the Sun" were recorded live as trio, but the intention was always to release a full ensemble version, and on January 16, 2013, Paul McCandless added his oboe overdub. Matthew Montfort laid down his guitar overdubs for the full studio version on April 25, 2013, and completed the piece with a fretless bass overdub on July 3, 2013. The first mix was made available to supporters of the fan funded Archive of Future Ancient Recordings on February 11, 2014. The final mix for public release was completed on February 25, 2025. Sadly, in 2017 Paul McCandless was diagnosed with a health condition that led him to retire from performing on oboe, although he has kept a very busy performance schedule on his many other wind instruments. This recording is very special because McCandless was an important early musical influence on the founders of Ancient Future.

East of the Sun Digital Audio Sales Date: Friday, April 25, 2025, celebrating the completion of the studio guitar overdubs.
Preorder Date: March 24, 2025, the 78th birthday of woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless.

East of the Sun Save Stream: https://orcd.co/eastsun (Participating Digital Music Platforms)
East of the Sun Preview: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1799893318 (Preview & Preorder Now!)

Track List:

1. East of the Sun (Studio Version with Paul McCandless, Oboe) by Ancient Future (Montfort. 5:10). Full studio version featuring Paul McCandless (oboe), Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitars, fretless bass), Benjy Wertheimer (tabla), and Mariah Parker (santur).

The Musicians

Matthew Montfort (Glissentar, fretless bass)

Guitar Player Magazine Feature

Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort acquired his Glissentar, an 11 string fretless guitar, via a 2006 artist deal with Godin Guitars. 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 with links to a GuitarPlayer.com lesson entitled "The Music of Jimi Hendrix Applied to Indian Raga" with a video of Montfort performing on Glissentar. He is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar. He has two solo releases: Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar and Sympathetic Serenade, for which he is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com along with such luminaries as Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and John Renbourn. He has performed worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra in Spain to the Mumbai Festival in India. Montfort wrote the training manual Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India.

Bui Huu Nhut (đàn bầu)

Bui Huu Nhut (pronounced "buoy who newt") is a leading performer on the đàn bầu, 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, Bui Huu Nhut has lived in the U.S. since 1989. He performs in traditional Vietnamese groups and ensemble variations of Ancient Future. He is featured on "Ja Nam," Matthew Montfort's reggae version of the Vietnamese folk standard "Ly Chim Quyen" (Song of the Nightingale), on Asian Fusion by Ancient Future. Putumayo included the track on their 2005 Asian Lounge sampler, and on November 5, 2005, Ancient Future performed with Bui Huu Nhut at Putumayo's album release party at the now defunct Supperclub in San Francisco.

"Ja Nam" (Matthew Montfort 3:53). >YTmusic.

Abbos Kosimov (Uzbek percussion)

Uzbek percussion phenomenon Abbos Kosimov is a master of the doyra (frame drum with metal rings) known for taking the instrument to unprecedented new heights. He developed finger tapping techniques inspired by North Indian tabla masters, adding new dimensions to the instrument’s sonic capabilities. On "Purple Haze," Abbos also plays tar (frame drum), cajón (Peruvian percussion box), and shakers. Abbos was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to a highly musical family and began playing doyra at age ten. He studied at the College of Culture and Music and the Tashkent State Institute of Culture and was given the title of Honored Artists of Uzbekistan by the president of Uzbekistan in 2001. His move to the U.S. in 2005 led to performances and recordings with artists such as Kronos Quartet, Omar Sosa, Stevie Wonder, and Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion.

Mariah Parker (santur, keyboards)

Mariah Parker has been playing music from the time she could reach the keys on the grand piano in her family home. She is also known for her work on hammered dulcimer and santur (its Persian cousin). Her academic tenure at UC Santa Cruz was distinguished by her involvement with ethnomusicologist Fred Lieberman and the iconic drummer Mickey Hart on his Planet Drum project, marking her early foray into the fusion of musical traditions. She has toured with Ancient Future in the US and Spain. Her discography began with the critically acclaimed Sangria in 2009, followed by Indo Latin Jazz Live In Concert in 2017, and Windows Through Time, which received rave reviews upon its release in June of 2024.

Benjy Wertheimer (tabla)

A founding member of Ancient Future, Benjy Wertheimer is a composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist accomplished on tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar, and keyboards. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Krishna Das, Deva Premal and Miten, Jai Uttal, The Hangmen, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, tabla master Zakir Hussain, and bamboo flute master G. S. Sachet. He began his musical studies at age five, starting with piano and later violin, flamenco guitar, and Afro-Cuban percussion. Benjy has been a student of Indian classical music for over four decades, sitting with some of the greatest masters including Alla Farrakhan, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan and Z. M. Dagmar. Along with the Grateful Dad's Mickey Hart, he was a contributing composer and member of the Zakir Hussain Rhythm Experience. He and his wife Heather perform internationally in the Kirghistan group Shanta la.

Paul McCandless (Oboe)

Grammy Award winning woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless has brought a soaring lyricism to his playing and composing that has been integral to the ensemble sound of two seminal world music 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. He is also on all of Mariah Parker's albums.