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2022 Issues: April • May • September

Ancient Future Times

Sept. 2022 Issue

Ancient Future Times: The Elephant in the YouTube

Elephant Appreciation Day Premier
•L.E.T.S. Watch on YouTube 9/22/22

L.E.T.S. Playlist
•Add World Fusion Music to Yours!

Elephant Appreciation Day Premier


YouTube Premier 9/22/22 at 1 PM PST. https://youtu.be/M6p29RuE8o8

L.E.T.S. Watch on YouTube 9/22/22

Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of a melody that conjures elephants in mating season. Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring (L.E.T.S.) begins with a low riff that depicts an elephant's legs, and then moves to a jump from low to high like an elephant trumpeting in excitement.

Indian tabla master Aditya Kalyanpur shared a video of Ancient Future’s last pre-pandemic performance with Jhankar, an Indian arts organization, and they came forth to sponsor a virtual concert featuring Kalyanpur, Montfort, and keyboard wizard Frank Martin in June 2021.The full video of the live performance of L.E.T.S. from Ancient Future's first online concert premiers on YouTube at 1 PM, PST on Elephant Appreciation Day, Thursday, September 22, 2022.

The video is also available as a download with hi-res audio exclusively to hi-res supporters of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, which now has 101 minutes of music in it!

Best of A.F.A.R. So Far CD Cover

L.E.T.S. Playlist

Add World Fusion Music to Yours!

Music streaming algorithms suggest music that is similar to what each listener streams already, which keeps music fans in limited genre boxes. This is the opposite of the purpose of world fusion music, which is about expanding listener's musical tastes. To counteract this, we are starting a grassroots playlisting campaign. Music fans are encouraged to add world fusion music to their playlists on streaming platforms. Use this link to add L.E.T.S. to your playlist on any streaming site:

https://orcd.co/letslive

L.E.T.S. save the elephants on playlists, and help save music from being stuck in tiny genre boxes at the same time! Email info@ancient-future.com to let us know about your playlists.

Ancient Future Times

May 2022 Issue:

Ancient Future Times: The Elephant in the Room

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring
•L.E.T.S. Stream This Spring

First In Person Concerts Since 2019
•Himalayan Fair May 21 and Lark Theater June 18

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring

Elephant in Love

L.E.T.S. Stream This Spring

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring (L.E.T.S.), the first Ancient Future release since streaming became the dominant format for music listening, drops on May 20 (Endangered Species Day)! Music streaming algorithms favor music that sounds like music listeners already listen to, which keeps listeners in limited genre boxes. This is the opposite of the purpose of world fusion music. But the algorithms also look at how many streams a new track gets in its first day. Furthermore, pre-saves are counted on the release date. So you can help expand tastes by pre-saving the L.E.T.S. now on your favorite streaming service using the link below:

https://orcd.co/letslive

It also helps to add L.E.T.S. to your public playlists. There's even an option to automatically add the track to one of your playlists when you pre-save the track! Musical elephants will then appear in your account and playlist on Endangered Species Day. L.E.T.S. save the elephants, and help save music from being stuck in genre boxes at the same time!

L.E.T.S. Dream

Basant Ragamala Painting

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring was composed by Matthew Montfort after studying Rag Basant, a springtime raga that captures the feeling of separated lovers longing to unite. The caption on an associated ragamala painting read: "Bound with a peacock's feathers...his face is as a flower. Elephant-like, he joyfully wanders in the forest among the gopis. Such is Basant raga." Montfort woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of a melody that conjures elephants in mating season. It begins with a low riff that depicts an elephant's legs, and then moves to a jump from low to high like an elephant trumpeting in excitement.

First In Person Concerts Since 2019

Ancient Future with Matthew Montfort, Vishal Nagar, and Mariah Parker

Himalayan Fair May 21 and Lark Theater June 18

 

Ancient Future Times

April 2022 Issue:

Ancient Future Times: L.E.T.S. Live on Endangered Species Day

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring
•L.E.T.S. Live on Endangered Species Day

L.E.T.S. Soar A.F.A.R.
•101 Minutes of Music A.F.A.R. So Far

Private Online Music Lessons
•Zoom Into Spring

Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring

L.E.T.S. Cover Art

L.E.T.S. Live on Endangered Species Day

Guitarist Matthew Montfort was the inaugural performer of a series of online Alternate Reality Concerts from the Ancient Future on his birthday in February 2021. Ancient Future’s last pre-pandemic performance was in September 2019 at the Kentucky Mine Amphitheater in Sierra City, California. Indian tabla master Aditya Kalyanpur shared a video of that concert with Jhankar, an Indian arts organization in Ohio, and they came forth to sponsor a virtual concert featuring Kalyanpur, Montfort, and keyboard wizard Frank Martin in June 2021.

The first release from the concert is set for Endangered Species Day (5/20/2022). Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring (L.E.T.S.) was composed by Matthew Montfort after studying Rag Basant, a springtime raga that captures the feeling of separated lovers longing to unite. Montfort woke up in the middle of the night dreaming of a melody that conjures elephants in mating season.

L.E.T.S. Save the Elephants on Earth Day

Save the Elephant Day (4/16/22) aims to raise public awareness about the dangers elephants face, such as ivory traders and loss of habitat. The public can show their support by sharing useful information on social media and by contributing to elephant conservation organizations such as the Elephant Crisis Fund.

There's another meaning for "save the elephants." Digital music platforms use pre-save data to determine which new releases to feature on their official release dates. So, after you do your part to save the elephants, you can pre-save musical elephants at your favorite digital music platform by following this link starting on Earth Day (4/22/22): https://orcd.co/letslive. Musical elephants will appear in your accounts. L.E.T.S. save the elephants on Earth Day!

orcd.co/letslive (Pre-Save at Participating Digital Music Platforms)
soundcloud (Pre-Save)

L.E.T.S. Watch from A.F.A.R.

A shortened preview video of L.E.T.S. is on YouTube. The full video with hi-res audio is currently available exclusively to supporters of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project.


Teaser Preview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qntdJZeMV-0

L.E.T.S. Share on Social Media

Ancient Future will be sharing news about the release on its social media and artist pages. Please follow Ancient Future and share the posts with your friends.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ancientfuture
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ancientfutureband
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ancient_future
Ethnocloud: https://ethnocloud.com/Ancient_Future
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5oQLP9K23E63u9BHB1b4LT

The Musicians

Ancient Future with Matthew Montfort, Aditya Kalyanpur, and Frank Martin
Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Aditya Kalyanpur (tabla), and Frank Martin (keys)

To enable its core mission of creating world fusion music, Ancient Future has grown to become a large chamber ensemble of world music masters with many smaller ensembles within it, including this trio featuring world guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort, renowned Indian tabla virtuoso Aditya Kalyanpur, and keyboard wiz Frank Martin. L.E.T.S. was recorded at the trio's first concert in which they presented an innovative and accessible take on Hindustani classical music and contemporary jazz fusion.

L.E.T.S. Soar A.F.A.R.

Best of A.F.A.R. So Far CD Cover

101 Minutes of Music A.F.A.R. So Far

With the addition of L.E.T.S. Live, the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, now has 101 minutes of music in it!

Getting our different ensembles together in the same room to rehearse and record has been more challenging due to the pandemic. A solution has been to make digital mock up tracks and replace all the sampled instruments with performances by master musicians. But this requires hundreds of extra hours of pre-production. Nonetheless, the bansuri, guitar, tanpura, and mock up tracks have been completed on Beyond Kalyan, a 28-minute suite that is waiting for one final overdub. The guitar and mock up tracks are completed for Innocent Explorations, the studio version of Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring, and Fretless Camel, totaling more than 50 minutes of music in production awaiting final overdubs! Ancient Future Studios has just completed a soundproof recording room, but we do need to raise money to cover travel expenses and pay the musicians for their work.

Please become a supporter at one of the levels below, starting at just $15. And if you are already a supporter, you can still upgrade to higher quality downloads. Once you become a supporter, you will receive all of the tracks in the archive (and all of the tracks that will be added in the future), and you will be eligible to buy a limited edition CD-R of the Best of A.F.A.R. So Far, which includes all of the best tracks that will (barely) fit on a CD-R.

Supporter Levels and Premiums

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Make a Purchase

Planet Passion Poster

Ancient Future's 2020 Vision sale on recordings and educational materials has been extended to encourage support. Purchases at the Ancient-Future.Com World Music Store directly support the artists and the music, and this sale offers bargain prices.

Private Online Music Lessons

Skype Guitar LessonSkype Rhythm LessonLearn Ancient Traditions on Skype

Zoom into Spring

Private Online Lessons with Ancient Future Bandleader Matthew Montfort. Study any of the musical traditions featured on the Ancient Future web site, all styles of guitar (and other fretted instruments including ukulele, bass, mandolin, charango, and sitar), record production, composition, world rhythms, music theory, and repertoire for all instruments.