FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
9/14/2010
Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records
1-415-459-1892
info@ancient-future.com
World Fusion Jam at Peña Pachamama
With Dinner Percussion Playshop Party
Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 7:30 pm
Dinner Starts: 6 pm
Peña Pachamama
1630 Powell near Union
San Francisco CA 94133
Tix: $10, $12 if no food is ordered. Info: 415-646-0018 or visit www.penapachamama.org.
Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125413924175298
Poster: http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/9_15_10_pachamama.pdf
Ancient Future leader and world music for guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort will lead a world fusion jam on both the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar, and on a Godin Glissentar, an 11 string fretless guitar based on the oud. Guest artist Patti Weiss will join him on violin.
The show will begin with a 'Dinner Percussion Playshop Party' in which Montfort will instruct and encourage members of the audience who are so inclined to perform simple rhythms from his book, Ancient Traditions — Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India, using dinner utensils and body percussion. The best playshop participants may be chosen to perform in the world fusion jam later in the evening. Musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments.
Matthew Montfort Bio
Matthew Montfort Hi-Res Photo by Julie Marten (2 MB):
http://www.ancient-future.com/images/matthewmontfort600.jpg
As leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort has devoted himself to the scalloped fretboard guitar since 1978. Featured in the December 2009 commemorative Les Paul issue of Guitar Player Magazine, Montfort 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. 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 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 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.
Ancient Traditions — Future Possibilities by Matthew Montfort
Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali and India. By Matthew Montfort. Kentfield: Ancient Future Music, 1985. ISBN 0-937879-00-2. Comb bound book, $46.95 (summer sale: $33.95): Buy Link . Companion 2 volume audio CD set plus CD-ROM with MIDI soundfiles: $39.95. (summer sale: $27.95): Buy Link . Book and audio CD Set with MIDI soundfiles: $74.95 (summer sale: $53.95): Buy Link.
Ancient Traditions, Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, & India
“This is one of the finest, well planned, easy to understand instructional texts I have ever read. Matthew, founder of the trendsetting world music ensemble, Ancient Future, has written an excellent book on mastering rhythmic techniques of India, Bali and Africa. Not only is the music of each culture well explained, but also there are chapters on combining these elements to create new rhythmic possibilities. He presents the rhythmic structures from three cultures in graduated exercises that all musicians can utilize to expand their musical horizons. If you're bored with playing the same old 4/4 rhythms then this book is for you. Highly recommended.” — Ben Kettlewell, AlternateMusicPress.Com, July, 2010.
Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort
Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort. (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2008) $17.98 (summer sale: $14). Buy Link. (>YTmusic)
Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Seven Serenades (912 k):
http://www.ancient-future.com/images/serenade300dpi.jpg
One Sheet for Seven Serenades with Streaming Audio:
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/serenades_1sheet_dig.pdf
Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar is the debut solo recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort. The recording showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. This first solo effort features his improvisational music.
Quotes
Seven Serenades Media Report (3.9 MB):
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/MediaMatthewMontfort.pdf
“This unusual guitar album brings together world instruments to complement the scalloped fretboard guitar. Starting with 'Gauri the Golden,' an improvisational piece drawing heavily on Indian raga, this is an intriguing collection of the resulting compositions. In fact, the entire CD is based on improvisation and includes one tune with an ancient Celtic theme, which Montfort suggests has many parallels 'to the Vedic tradition.' I must admit that sometimes ragas played by guitar players seem to wander on forever, changing a note here and there and weaving a kind of slow, hypnotic journey. However, this guitar work is stunning, intricate and wonderfully melodic. If you are looking for good listening and something different for your CD shelf, this is it. But don’t go carving up your fretboard until you've really figured this out.” — J.W. McClure, from review of Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, VICTORY REVIEW ACOUSTIC MUSIC MAGAZINE, April, 2010.
“Playing both a scalloped fretboard and fretless guitar, he wowed the audience with soulful renditions of his own compositions and arrangements. Montfort was by turns informative and virtuostic, explaining the Indian raga (or musical mode) and then demonstrating with his Hendrix-drenched 'Purple Raga' and Hibernian 'Celtic Raga.' The construction of both guitars were conducive to the easier shaping of notes, allowing for glissandos and a wide finger vibrato common in the Arabic/Indian tradition that Montfort wove into his compositions. His highly animated playing style threw into stark contrast Gerken’s quieter, more focused performance. When both were on stage, however, Montfort’s energy was infectious; soon both performers were bobbing and swaying to the beat as only musicians having a good time can” — James Keith, from concert review of the San Francisco Guitar Summit, CaliforniaBeat.Org, June 7, 2010.
"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, from review of Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, INDIA CURRENTS, March 2009
"It isn't every day that acoustic guitarists make their instrument sound a lot like an Indian sitar, but that is exactly what Matthew Montfort accomplishes on the instrumental 'Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar.' Through it all, Montfort demonstrates that even though he has considerable chops and technical prowess, he is much more interested in feeling and expression than technique. This 56-minute CD is an adventurous, consistently engaging demonstration of what Montfort can accomplish on the scalloped fretboard guitar." – Alex Henderson, ALL MUSIC GUIDE
Patti Weiss Bio
(violin)
Patti Weiss began studying classical violin at the age of six. After high school she studied for a year at Berklee College of Jazz in Boston, and spent the next year traveling from Greece to India overland through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Upon arriving in India she met Joi Shriwastava -- a well-known Indian classical violinist and spent six months living with his family and studying with him. Patti also holds a BA in South Asian languages from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. in neuropsychology from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. Patti has performed with the Gipsy Kings on three North American tours, as well as performing and composing music for five feature films, including The Truth About Cats and Dogs.
Planet Passion by Ancient Future
Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010) $17.98 (summer sale: $14): Buy 1 Now. (>YTmusic.)
Hi-Res CD Cover Art of Planet Passion (1.6 MB):
http://www.ancient-future.com/images/planetpassioncvr300dpi.jpg
One Sheet with Streaming Audio for Planet Passion:
http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/planetpassion_1sheet_dig.pdf
Planet Passion by Ancient Future features Patti Weiss on violin and has been re-issued with 64-Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The seventh Ancient Future recording showcases nineteen top masters of of Indian, Nepali, African, Cuban, Celtic, Arabic, Palestinian, Jewish, Indonesian, Chinese, Eastern European and American music traditions performing music on the theme of mythical stories of love.
“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. Featuring instrumentation from Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East, Planet Passion is a mythical story of love, flirtation, seduction, courtship, marriage and longing. Manose Singh’s bansuri flute and Matthew Montfort’s scalloped fretboard work stand out in this eclectic, visionary global village, where each track features its own unique set of players. 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
Audio From Planet Passion Featuring Patti Weiss
Alap (Matthew Montfort. 1:48) Buy Link. (>YTmusic. ) This piece is an introduction to the song El Zaffa played alap style and features Matthew Montfort accompanied by Patti Weiss.
137 Word Radio Announcement
Ancient Future leader and world music for guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort will lead a World Fusion Jam on the scalloped fretboard guitar and a fretless Godin Glissentar with guest Artist Patti Weiss on violin on Wednesday, September 15, at 7:30 pm at Peña Pachamama, located at 1630 Powell near Union, San Francisco, California. The show will start with a 'Dinner Percussion Playshop Party' in which Montfort will instruct and encourage members of the audience who are so inclined to perform simple rhythms from using dinner utensils and body percussion. The best playshop participants may be chosen to perform in the world fusion jam later in the evening. Musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments. For more information call 415-646-0018 or visit www.penapachamama.org. There is a $10 cover charge for admission, or $12 if no food is ordered.
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