Ancient Future Duet Northern California Tour featuring Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar
Hi-Res Photo of Matthew Montfort and Vishal Nagar by Devki (1 MB)
Friday, January 10, 2014, 8 PM
The Sunflower Center
1435 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite 100
Petaluma, California 94954
Tix: $12 advance, $15 door. Advance tix at https://ancient-future-sfc.eventbrite.com
Info: Call 707-792-5304 or email info@thesunflowercenter.org
Venue website: www.lydiasorganics.com
Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/558079204263185
Saturday, January 11, 2014, 8 PM
Trinity Chamber Concerts
Trinity Chapel
2320 Dana Street between Bancroft Way & Durant Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
Tix: $15 general, $10 senior/disabled/student. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Info and reservations: 510-549-3864 or email info@trinitychamberconcerts.com
Venue website: www.trinitychamberconcerts.com
Sunday, January 12, 2014, 7 PM
Don Quixote's International Music Hall
6275 Highway 9
Felton, CA 95018
Tix: $12 advance, $15 door. Info: Call 831-603-2294 or email tmm@cruzio.com
Venue website: www.donquixotesmusic.info
Tour Poster (122k .pdf)
Strains of passionate flamenco and ethereal Indian raga emanate from this improvisatory duet featuring world guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort accompanied by renowned Indian tabla virtuoso Vishal Nagar. The program will feature music from the ground breaking world music recordings of Ancient Future along with serenades from Matthew Montfort's solo guitar releases: Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar and Sympathetic Serenade, for which he was lauded as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists.
Celebrating its 35th year in 2014, Ancient Future is the world's first and longest running ensemble dedicated to world fusion music, with dozens of programs featuring master musicians from around the world. Their guitar and tabla duet program has appeared in a variety of settings, from the huge audience (police estimate of 35,000 people) at the Summer of Love 30th Anniversary Celebration in San Francisco to the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain near Barcelona.
"It was heart-warming to see teenage girls in swirling dresses swaying and twirling to the Indian themes (almost like morning ragas) of Ancient Future, one of the morning performing groups." —Philip Elwood, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER (review of Summer of Love performance, that according to the San Francisco Chronicle, was famed concert promoter Chet Helm's "crowning achievement")
Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard and fretless guitars)
Hi-Res Photo of Matthew Montfort by Julie Marten (2 MB)
The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort, released his first solo recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, in 2009. He 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 is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com, a curated "best of" site, along with such luminaries as Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Chet Atkins, John Fahey, Merle Travis, John Renbourn, Tommy Emmanuel, Doc Watson, Pierre Bensusan, Alex De Grassi, and Peppino D'Agostino. The December 2009 Les Paul issue of Guitar Player Magazine includes a full page feature on Matthew Montfort with a corresponding GuitarPlayer.Com video and lesson entitled "The Music of Jimi Hendrix Applied to Indian Raga." 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 performed live on national radio and TV shows such as the Echoes Living Room Concerts on Public Radio International, and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. 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.
Vishal Nagar (tabla)
Hi-Res Photo of Vishal Nagar by Inni Singh (5 MB)
"He has magic in his hands" - Hindustan Times
Vishal Nagar is considered one of the most gifted tabla players of his generation. Born into a family of musicians, Vishal has been surrounded by music in an extremely musically creative and artistic environment. Since childhood, he has been fascinated by tabla and began to play at an early age. Vishal had his initial training for a very brief period with the late Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan of the Delhi Gharana. After his Ustad's untimely demise, Vishal continued his training under the guidance of Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan of the same Gharana (school). Along with the dense and rare tabla repertoire taleem which was he received from his Ustad, he also has had intense rhythmic (layakari) training from his mother, the renowned and highly respected Kathak dancer and vocalist, Urmila Nagar. Vishal has been praised in the Indian press for his unique combination of melodic tabla sound production with masterful command of rhythm.
Vishal has had the privilege of performing with many renowned artists: Ustad Shujaat Khan, Guru Urmila Nagar, Vidhwan Trichur Ramachandran, Pandit Ramesh Misra and Miss. Kala Ramnath, to name a few. Vishal has also had the honor of sharing the stage with some great world music masters such as African drum legend Babatunde Olatunji, Michel Shrieve, Evyind Kang, Carmona Flamenco, and Michael Wimberley, to name few. Vishal has also expanded his cultural boundaries and collaborated with musicians from around the world. Some of his memorable works have been with the Ghanaian Guitarist Koo Nimo with whom he also appeared in WOMAD USA (a leading world dance and music festival started by Peter Gabriel). Starting his performance career at the age of eight in Patna, Vishal has performed around the globe including performances in many cities in India, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Thailand and the United States. Vishal has also been awarded with the Ministry of Culture Scholarship from the Department of Culture.
In his journey as a musician, Vishal feels that music and art are truly an ocean of knowledge and an expression of feelings and emotions. He aspires to serve the Indian music and arts through his medium of expression, the language of tabla, and hopes that he will be able to give due respect, dedication, and devotion to this great art form of his country, India.
Recent Recordings on Ancient-Future.Com RecordsThe Archive of Future Ancient Recordings by Ancient Future
Archive of Future Ancient Recordings by the band Ancient Future. (Ancient-Future.Com AF-2030). Recording Newsletter Package (128kbps MP3): $15. Buy Link. Download Supporter Package (320 kbps MP3): $25. Buy Link. Limited to 300 packages. Limited Edition CD Sponsor Package (CD quality .wav): $50. Buy Link. Limited to 200 packages. Honorary A & R Representative Package (Hi-res 24 bit .wav): $75. Buy Link. Limited to 100 packages.
During Ancient Future's 30th anniversary year, work started on the next project of the band: the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings (A.F.A.R.). To finance the project, a subscription system model is being employed to fund the recording through fans of world fusion music. There are already eight tracks in the archive available right now to subscribers, with more coming as money is raised for production.
Planet Passion by Ancient Future
Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010) $17.98: Buy Link . (>audio.)
Planet Passion by Ancient Future has been re-issued with 64-Bit Tuned Harmonic Mastering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band. The seventh Ancient Future recording features nineteen top masters of of Indian, Nepalese, 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
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: Buy Link . (>audio.)
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.
"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, INDIA CURRENTS, March 2009
Sympathetic Serenade by Matthew Montfort. (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2012). Signed Mini EP CD-R- $12.98: Buy Link. (>audio.)
When Matthew Montfort was working on his debut solo recording, he recorded a series of improvisations. Were it not for some serendipitous sequencing coupled with the allure of alliteration, it's likely that this recording would have been released as the eighth improvisation on what became Seven Serenades. Instead, this evocative Spanish serenade/raga hybrid receives a mini EP treatment on Matthew Montfort's Sympathetic Serenade.
"Both Matt Montfort and his band Ancient Future have been reviewed in FAME before, and the work is always superlative, but this one, a CD 11-minute single, is an expression of solo virtuosity on a variant axe which isn't employed by very many. Primarily a Spanish composition, there's nonetheless always a generous infusion of raga structures and riffs in Montfort's work as well as more Westerly rhythmatics. Sympathetic Serenade is no exception. Brilliant modern semi-neoclassical work with very strong ties to the traditional residing within progressive annals." – Mark S. Tucker, FAME
