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2023 Issues: January • May • November

Ancient Future Times

November 2023 Issue:

Ancient Future Times: Rare Concerts and Recordings

Rare Concert Collaborations
•Meeting of Acoustic Minds 11/11/23 & Guitar Pipa Duet 4/14/24

Recording Progress
•Getting the Next Ancient Future Record Ready for Release

Rare Concert Collaborations

Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Shenshen Zhang (pipa) on youtube
YouTube Video of Very First Meeting of Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang

Meeting of Acoustic Minds 11/11/23 & Guitar Pipa Duet 4/14/24

Music presenters and venues suspended operations at the beginning of the pandemic and many of those that booked Ancient Future concerts aren't coming back. With the closures and retirements of music directors friendly to our cause, a lot of work is being put into getting the booking database up to date. But we now have two concerts booked for Ancient Future's 45th season, with more in the works!

Saturday, November 11, 7 PM, Meeting of Acoustic Minds with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Shenshen Zhang (pipa), and Mark Kostrzewa (acoustic guitar), Half Moon Bay Oddfellows, Ocean View Lodge 143, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019. Adm: $35 donation supports Youth Services and other programs of the Half Moon Bay Odd Fellows. Tix: https://hmb-odd.org/events/meeting-of-acoustic-minds-2

Scalloped fretboard guitarist Matthew Montfort shares the stage with the amazing Shenshen Zhang on pipa (Chinese lute), and Montara’s own guitar instrumentalist Mark Kostrzewa for an evening of individual and collective musical arrangements. Also featuring David Kaufman on tablas.

Sunday, April 14, 2024, 4 PM, Ancient Future with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), and Shenshen Zhang (Chinese pipa), Old St. Hilary's Landmark, 201 Esperanza St., Tiburon CA 94920. Tix: $25, $20 seniors and under 18, $5 more at door. Save the date!

Recording Progress

Getting the Next Ancient Future Record Ready for Release

The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, already has 101 minutes of music in it. But there's also over an hour of music in production awaiting final overdubs to be added to the project. Upright bass has been added to Fretless Camel and Rasa Flamenca, and practice tracks have been sent to musicians to finish up the over 60 minutes of music in production, and work has started on exciting new pieces as well!

Ancient Future now has a soundproof studio location about 90 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, but many of Ancient Future's musicians reside south and east of San Francisco, so with the cost of gas and frequently traffic, it's been difficult to schedule musicians and pay for their travel costs and time. To speed the timetable up, portable recording gear is in the process of being acquired and tested to make it easier to meet musicians near where they live. You can help by becoming a supporter!

Supporter Levels and Premiums

Make a Tax Deductible Contribution

 

Ancient Future Times

May 2023 Issue:

Ancient Future Times: Spring Returns

Spring Returns
•Himalayan Fair May 20 and Fairfax Festival June 11

Spring Sprouts A.F.A.R.
•101 So Far, 60 More Minutes Soon

Study World Music
•Join the Musicians Benefiting from Ancient Future Training

Spring Returns

Moonbath (Duet) recorded July 26, 2009, at Ancient Future's 30th anniversary concert at the Freight and Salvage. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar) and Mariah Parker (hammered dulcimer). Available in high-resolution audio to supporters of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings.

Himalayan Fair May 20 and Fairfax Festival June 11

Spring brings return performances at two local outdoor events: the Himalayan Fair, which has featured Ancient Future on all but a few of their 40 years, and the Fairfax Festival, which featured Ancient Future at their inaugural event!

Photo of Mariah Parker and Matthew Montfort

 

Spring Sprouts A.F.A.R.

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

101 So Far, 60 More Minutes Soon

The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, now has 101 minutes of music in it. But there's also over an hour of music in production awaiting final overdubs to be added to the project!

We initially recorded a number of live studio tracks for A.F.A.R. that are part of the 101 minutes of music already in the archive. But it became apparent over time that we weren't getting enough financial support to cover the musician honorariums, travel and rehearsals required, so a few years before the pandemic started, production had shifted to making digital mock up tracks and then replacing the sampled instruments with overdubs by master musicians. Since the pandemic hit, hundreds and hundreds of hours have been spent on the project, and bansuri, guitar, tanpura, and mock up tracks have been completed on Beyond Kalyan, a 28 minute suite, plus guitar and mock up tracks for Innocent Explorations, the studio version of Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring, Fretless Camel, and the brand new Rasa Flamenca, which brings together the rhythms and melodies of Indian classical music and flamenco. It's a very emotional piece that imagines a slow ektal (the first tala, a 12 beat cycle) arriving in Spain centuries ago and melding with North African rhythms that move the accents to different beats.

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. Supporters receive all of the tracks in the archive (and all of the tracks that will be added in the future), and are eligible to buy a limited edition CD-R of the Best of A.F.A.R. So Far, which includes current favorite tracks that will (barely) fit on a CD.

Supporter Levels and Premiums

Make a Tax Deductible Contribution

Study World Music

Book CoverBack Cover

Join the Musicians Benefiting from Ancient Future Training

Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities by Matthew Montfort takes the student on a musical voyage through the great ancient rhythmic traditions of Africa, Bali, and India. It's been used at schools all over the world, including the Berklee College of Music in Boston. A long list of musicians have benefited from going through the training, including famous master musicians such as Steve Smith, drummer for the band Journey, who used the book to get ready for a summit with tabla master Zakir Hussain. A quick look through the Ancient-Future.Com sales archives revealed direct purchases by musicians who perform with bands like Trapezoid, Dark Star Orchestra, and Robert Plant.

Jon Bergamo, the legendary former head of the percussion department at the California Institute of the Arts, went through the entire book after he found it in his desk at retirement, and called to thank Matthew Montfort for writing it and encouraged him to write another! Speaking of, Matthew Montfort is working on a training manual focusing on melody, and is sharing lessons from it with his current students.

Private Online Lessons with Ancient Future Bandleader Matthew Montfort

Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali and India by Matthew Montfort

 

Ancient Future Times

New Year's 22/23 Issue

Ancient Future Times: L.E.T.S. Play in the New Year

L.E.T.S. Play
•Add World Fusion Music to Your Playlists

Support Music in the New Year
•Join A.F.A.R., Donate, Purchase

Private Online Music Lessons
•A New Year of Learning

L.E.T.S. Play

Elephant in Love

Add World Fusion Music to Your Playlists

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. To address this issue, we are starting a grass roots playlisting campaign to increase the reach of world fusion music on streaming services. By making world fusion playlists featuring your favorite artists, you can help jump start a process to overcome some of the bias of streaming algorithms.

L.E.T.S. Playlist

You can check out Ancient Future's releases at our artist page on each streaming service:

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ancient-future/1380172 (Apple Music)
https://store.tidal.com/us/artist/3505703 (Tidal)
https://www.deezer.com/us/artist/12660 (Deezer)
https://us.napster.com/artist/ancient-future (Napster)
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5oQLP9K23E63u9BHB1b4LT (Spotify)
https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B000QJW0DU/ancient-future (Amazon Music)
https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC-u6LeUkpy5gd2hdnU0CJFQ (YouTube Music)
https://soundcloud.com/ancient-future-band (Soundcloud Go)
https://www.pandora.com/artist/all-albums/ancient-future/ARKXJPKKJzVZb3J (Pandora)
https://www.kkbox.com/tw/tc/artist/-nZ0RdSsLGYcGZqJrU (KKBox, Japan, Southeast Asia)
https://www.freegalmusic.com/browse/artists/featured/QW5jaWVudCBGdXR1cmU (freegal music)
https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/interpreter/ancient-future/download-streaming-albums (Qobuz Hi-Res)

Email info@ancient-future.com to let us know about your playlists!

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.

L.E.T.S. Stream

Add L.E.T.S. now on your favorite streaming service:

https://orcd.co/letslive

L.E.T.S. Watch

The video is also available as a download with hi-res audio exclusively to hi-res supporters of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings.

Support Music in the New Year

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

101 Minutes of Music A.F.A.R. So Far: 60 More Coming Soon with Your Help

The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings, Ancient Future's fan funded recording project, is edging closer to completion, and we hope to release two albums from it in the next two years!

Funding recordings and scheduling rehearsals with master musicians from different cultures has always been a challenge, but has been made more difficult by factors such as very low streaming payouts and the pandemic. One tactic when a comprehensive set of rehearsals followed by live recording sessions isn't feasible is producing digital mock up tracks and then replacing the sampled instruments with performances by master musicians. After hundreds of extra hours of pre-production, the basic tracks are finished for Beyond Kalyan, Innocent Explorations, Lustful Elephants Trumpet Spring (Studio Version), Fretless Camel, and the brand new Rasa Flamenca, totaling more than 60 minutes of new music in production awaiting final overdubs! Ancient Future Studios now has two recording rooms in Cloverdale where the flamenco guitar, scalloped fretboard guitar, and mock up tracks for Rasa Flamenca were recorded.

To help finish and release the recordings, 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

Make a Tax Deductible Contribution

InterMusic SF Logo

Touring is difficult right now due to increased travel costs, COVID concerns, and concert presenters trying to make up for several years of losses by booking mainstream artists. Ancient Future doesn't anticipate being able to tour in 2023, but we do hope to perform concerts in Northern California and stream some of them worldwide. Ticket sales alone won't cover all the costs, but your donation can help close the gap.

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 music, and this sale offers bargain prices.

Private Online Music Lessons

Skype Guitar LessonSkype Rhythm LessonLearn Ancient Traditions on Skype

A New Year of Learning

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 plucked instruments including ukulele, bass, mandolin, charango, fretless guitar, and sitar), record production, composition, world rhythms, music theory, and repertoire for all instruments.