Celtic Raga Duet Hi-Res Photo by Julie Marten
Saturday, May 11, 7 pm
Halanda Studio for Dance and Fitness
1062 Lincoln Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
Registration: $20 in advance through Halanda Studio PayPal, $25 at the door.
Info: 408-246-1129 or 408-369-1304
Email: info@halanda.com
Venue Website: http://halanda.com/calendar-e.
Ancient Future Website: www.ancient-future.com
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/
Celtic Raga Program
Celtic (kel'tik), adj. of the Celts, their Indo-European languages, culture, etc.
raga (räg'a), n. [Hind.] a melodic recipe for a mood including ascending and descending note patterns and a hierarchy of note importance
Strains of ancient Celtic music and Indian raga emanate from this high energy improvisatory duet featuring world guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort accompanied by Ferhan Qureshi on tabla. One of the variations of the virtuoso world fusion music ensemble, Ancient Future, this duet has performed 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 a standing room only three hour bar gig in Southern Oregon, 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
Matthew Montfort Hi-Res Photo by Julie Marten (2 MB):
http://www.ancient-future.com/
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.
Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi (tabla)
Ferhan Qureshi Lo-Res Photo:
http://www.ancient-future.com/
Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi is a senior disciple of the legendary tabla master Ustad Tari Khan. Prior to his ongoing training with Ustad Tari Khan, Ferhan took his initial lessons in Hindustani (North Indian classical) music theory and practice with Surinder Singh Mann. Ferhan studies the Punjab gharana (school) of classical tabla which both of his teachers represent. In addition to performing tabla lehara (tabla solo), Ferhan Qureshi has also accompanied numerous distinguished classical artists (vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers) both in the United States and in Pakistan.
Recent Recordings on Ancient-Future.Com Records
The 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: http://www.ancient-future.com/
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:http://www.ancient-future.com/
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: http://www.ancient-future.com/
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: http://www.ancient-future.com/
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
49 Word Radio Announcement
Halanda Studio presents the Ancient Future duet in concert featuring scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort with tabla accompaniment by Ferhan Qureshi on Saturday, May 11th, at 7 pm at the Halanda Studio for Dance and Fitness, located at1062 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, California. For more information, call 408-246-1129 or 408-369-1304.
