Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Music

Matthew Montfort Recording on Scalloped Fretboard Guitar
Photo of Matthew Montfort by Michael Braden

Could A.I. Take Away the Magic of Making Music?

Matthew Montfort was a serious science fiction fan when he began his studies of the guitar with an eye towards becoming a professional instrumentalist and composer at the age of 12. Back then, the future of human evolution with computers was conceived as one where body sizes would shrink, and brains would become bigger. Montfort imagined a future in which he could put on a thinking cap and the notes would pour forth, powered by brain waves and electronics. Fast foward to a new age of artificial intelligence, and it turns out the future isn't what it used to be!

Read the article Matthew Montfort wrote about the effects of artificial intelligence on music for the latest issue of Music Worker, the newsletter of the Artist Rights Alliance (formerly the Content Creators Coalition).

Free Sonoma County Library Concert Series

YouTube Video of Very First Meeting of Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang

Each Concert Program Features Different Material!

Ancient Future bandleader and scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer will be joined by master musicians from many traditions for this series of hour long free concerts at libraries in Sonoma County. Each show will feature different material from recordings by Matthew Montfort, Ancient Future, and the master musicians he is performing with. Press Release.

Wednesday, February 20, 7 PM, Ancient Future History with Matthew Montfort, Mindia Devi Klein (bansuri and silver flute), and Mariah Parker (santur), Petaluma Regional Library, 100 Fairgrounds Dr., Petaluma, CA 94952. Free. Info: 707-763-9801 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.
Saturday, March 9, 3 PM, Global Guitar Summit with Matthew Montfort and Teja Gerken (fingerstyle guitar), Guerneville Regional Library, 14107 Armstrong Woods Rd., Guerneville, CA 95446. Free. Info: 707-869-9004 or visit visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event. (Also performing Friday, March 8, 8 PM, Wu Wei Tea Temple, 1820 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA 94930. Donation: $10 - $20. Info: visit wuweiteatemple.com. Facebook Event.)
Saturday, March 30, 2 PM, Ancient Future World Without Walls Trio with Matthew Montfort, Doug McKeehan (keys), and Ian Dogole (percussion), Northwest Santa Rosa Library, 150 Coddingtown Center, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. Free. Info: 707-546-2265 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.
Saturday, April 20, 2 PM, Ancient Future Guitar and Arabic Percussion Duet with Matthew Montfort and Antoine Lammam (Arabic percussion), Central Santa Rosa Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. Free. Info: 707-308-3020 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.
Saturday, April 27, 2 PM, Ancient Future Guitar and Pipa Duet with Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang (pipa), Sonoma Valley Regional Library, 755 West Napa Street, Sonoma, CA 95476. Free. Info: 707- 996-5217 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.
Saturday, May 4, 2 PM, Ancient Future Guitar and Tabla Duet with Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar (tabla), Rohnert Park-Cotati Library, 6250 Lynne Conde Way, Rohnert Park Expressway / State Farm Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928. Free. Info: 707-584-9121 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.
Saturday, May 11, 2 PM, Ancient Future World Without Walls Trio with Matthew Montfort, Doug McKeehan (keys), and Ian Dogole (percussion), Healdsburg Regional Library, 139 Piper Street, Healdsburg, CA 95448. Free. Info: 707-433-3772 or visit sonomalibrary.org. Facebook Event.

Housing Crisis Reaches the Ancient Future

Photo of Ancient Future 40th Anniversary Reunion Set 1
Photo by Barbara Framm. Shown: Mindia Devi Klein, Benjy Wertheimer, Matthew Montfort, and Mariah Parker

Help Founding Member Mindia Devi Stay Here Now After 40th Anniversary

Ancient Future's 40th Anniversary Concert at the Freight and Salvage was a tremendous success, with over 200 people attending on a Tuesday night and two standing ovations!

But there was some difficult news after the event. Founding Ancient Future member Mindia Devi Klein had arranged temporary housing so she could be in the Bay Area to perform at the concert. But the offer suddenly fell through a few days after the concert, so she needs a place to live starting around March 7. She is open to all possibilities, but she has lived and worked in Marin for many decades and prefers to stay in the North Bay. If you know of or have an inexpensive house sit or share rental in a stable environment for her to reside, please contact her at 415-786-3740 or mindiadevi@gmail.com.

The local housing crisis brought about by factors including the unregulated growth of the tech industry has deeply hurt the local music scene. There is so much work needed to bring the arts back to their former glory in the San Francisco Bay Area. But finding housing for a local music hero is a small step in the right direction. Artists give back to the community in so many ways. Finding housing for Mindia will allow Ancient Future to begin recording a 25 minute piece featuring her for the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings. Her students will benefit from her guidance, and there will be more beautiful flute music in the air.

Save the Date: Ancient Future 5/26/19 @ SFIAF

Ancient Future World Without Walls Reunion Concert

World Jazz featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), Ian Dogole (percussion)

Ancient Future Photo Circa 1990 by Irene Young
Photo by Irene Young of Ancient Future circa 1990

Sunday Evening, May 26, 2019, 5 PM
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Gallery 308, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94109
Discounted Early Bird Tickets on Sale March 1!

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.

This lineup of Ancient Future played over a hundred concerts together from 1988 to 1995. In 2011, they reunited for the first time in 15 years to perform concerts at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord and Yoshi's in San Francisco. In honor of the reunion concerts, World Without Walls was released digitally by Capitol Records for the first time ever at major digital retailers such as iTunes. Twenty two years after its initial release in 1990, broadcasters worldwide voted the record as one of the top 5 world music releases of 2012. In September 2012 they performed at the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then at the Freight and Salvage in October 2013. This show at the San Francisco International Arts Festival will be their fifth reunion concert.

'World Without Walls' Reunion

YouTube Video of Ancient Future Performing Bookenka at 'World Without Walls' Reunion. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), Ian Dogole (percussion), Kash Killion (bass), and Mariah Parker (santur).

"Ancient Future is a rare kind of band that might simultaneously aggravate purists, confound New Age dilettantes, seduce skeptics, and dazzle just about everybody else. Delicious compositions, intricate arrangements, crisp playing and impeccable production put these ambitious voyagers in a league of their own." - Derk Richardson, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

Releases Featuring This Lineup

World Without Walls by Ancient Future (Sona Gaia/MCA 163).
Asian Fusion by Ancient Future (Narada Equinox ND-63023