AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

September 2008 Edition This is the email newsletter of Ancient Future, the world's longest running musical ensemble dedicated to the mission of the creation of world fusion music and to increasing awareness and understanding of world music traditions.

In This Issue: Listener Sponsored World Fusion Music Program Update
Pre-Releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records
Former Dead Kennedy Frontman Jello Biafra Reviews CD
Free CD Contest

Listener Sponsored World Fusion Music Update

by Matthew Montfort

Support Report

We are very sorry if you tried to support Ancient Future's Listener Sponsored World Fusion Music program after its announcement and your credit card was denied. It wasn't you, it was a poor choice in web hosting companies. But the good news is that we have now switched to faster servers, upgraded to the latest shopping cart, and since getting everything working in mid-August, we've raised $675. We'd like to thank the following initial supporters:

Leslie Lawton: Download Supporter PackageMusicians for Peace: Limited Edition CD Sponsor PackageMettagraphics: Logo Link

Crucial Creative Cause

In December, 1978, Ancient Future went into Tres Virgos Studio in Mill Valley to begin work on the first Ancient Future record, Visions of a Peaceful Planet, which was first released in May of 1979. To commemorate 30 years of world fusion music, a 30th Anniversary Recording Series is planned with work starting in late 2008.

A special download supporter area will be unveiled in December where the work files for the project will be posted as it is being created. Even before new recordings are made, supporters will have access to files from our archives of live concerts and radio performances that are not currently available commercially. They will help serve as examples of possible directions the recording could take.

To fund Ancient Future's 30th Anniversary Recording Series, a subscription system model is being employed. It is a bit like making a "people's label" to fund the recording. There are four supporter packages available. You can be a virtual fly-on-the-wall during the recording process through the Recording Newsletter Package ($10, Buy 1 Now). The Download Supporter Package ($25, Buy 1 Now) includes the newsletter plus downloads of archival recordings and new music as it is recorded. The Limited Edition CD Sponsor Package ($50, Buy 1 Now) includes all of the above plus an exclusive limited edition CD. Finally, the Honorary A & R Representative Package ($75, Buy 1 Now) includes all of the above plus a DVD with video and hi-rez audio.

Contribution Solution

A World Fusion Music Fund has been set up by Octave Alliance's Green Music Network, the nonprofit organization for social change through music started by Ancient-Future.Com artist Alan Tower, and is now accepting tax deductible donations to sponsor world fusion music concerts by Ancient Future.

Links Listings

For just $100 a month you or your business can be a Link Sponsor of Ancient-Future.Com and will be thanked with a text link to your web site from Ancient Future's popular home page and the World Fusion Music Links Page.

Channeling Change

I know it can be difficult to support a cause in times of economic hardship. Being a musician, I'm not without practice coping with economic uncertainty. What I have done lately may be of help to others as well. I quit my favorite vice: coffee. I'm channeling the change I'm saving to help fund Ancient Future, and this week I even splurged and donated to a political campaign. You know, the one for hope and change in the USA. It was my investment in the future. It will be easier to make positive changes through music if society is pointing in a better direction.

Of course, my political donation can effectively be erased by people making donations to the other side. You know, the folksy down-to-earth campaign to support wars, big oil, and tax breaks for the rich. The great thing about contributing to the world fusion music process is that your contribution is not erased by other people contributing to something else. Whoever wins the US election, this sort of work can be of help in creating more understanding between people. Your support can help insure the survival of Ancient Future and the virtuoso world fusion music movement.

"The time has definitely come for world fusion music. Ancient Future is one step ahead of the game; on their side is the philosophical parallel between global consonance and world peace." – SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

Available exclusively through the Ancient Future catalog until the Internet release on October 14, 2008, and the general release on CD January 20, 2009.

Sangria by Mariah Parker (Ancient-Future.Com 2017) Pre-Release Signed CD- $24.98: Buy 1 Now. This debut recording features Mariah's original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. Her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. The CD is not yet in stores, but the first 50 signed and numbered copies are available now. (Read more).

Waterwheel (Mariah Parker) (>audio). Beginning with a bowed bass solo, the fluid tabla in circular 7/8 time takes us flowing around the wheel.

Review

"With her music and her soul, Mariah Parker transcends musical categorization and gives us a window to an ideal world. Her music is uplifting, peaceful yet passionate, and always evolving. The collective spirit of the players on Sangria shines through, enveloping you with exotic texture and inventive play, but what captivates us is Parker’s gift for melody. Although instrumental, her pieces speak and sing to us, sometimes whispering, sometimes asserting, and always giving us great pleasure." – Rebeca Mauléon (Bay area pianist, composer and educator at the forefront of Latin Jazz)

Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar by Matthew Montfort. (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2008). Pre-Release Signed CD- $24.98: Buy 1 Now. The debut recording by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort showcases his pioneering work on the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments more characteristic of the sitar. The CD is not yet in stores, but the first 50 signed and numbered copies are available now. (Read more).

Soul Serenade (Matthew Montfort) (>audio). This improvisation in E minor captures the feeling of the initial emergency drive-by serenade that inspired this recording.

First Review from a Seemingly Unlikely Source...

"I first realized Matthew Montfort was a true guitar wizard when he called me on the phone and played me one flawless Hendrix riff after another.We were in the seventh grade. By the time we escaped high school, Matt had gone acoustic, turning coffee house basements into his own planet with fierce improvisations. Now a pioneering master of world fusion, his knowledge and depth are staggering, yet he doesn't let it get in the way of the joy and spirit and soul that we like about music in the first place." – Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedy front man turned spoken word activist, politician and owner of Alternative Tentacles Records)

CD Contest

A free copy of Mariah Parker's Sangria will be awarded to the contestant who submits the best idea to promote or improve the Listener Sponsored World Fusion Music program. To enter, send your idea to info@ancient-future.com. Best idea received by October 1, 2008, wins the CD. Include your shipping address in case you win.

The winner of the Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar CD from last issue's contest was Peter Scherr, a musician in Hong Kong who suggested that Ancient Future contact the State Department about performing overseas. This had been tried, but the Bush appointee in charge of the Cultural Programs Division didn't respond to queries about world fusion music. Hopefully, in spite of the recent divide and conquer/Trojan horse/Wizard of Oz surprise vice-presidential selection amplified by the dark force compliant/ratings hungry corporate media spin machine, reason will in the end prevail and the next administration will put a greater emphasis on sanity in international relations.