Search - Ancient Future :: Planet Passion

?Ancient Future certainly earns the 'ancient' in its name. The Bay Area band's first world beat album was released way back in 1979, making these artists a sort of Rolling Stones of fusion music. And on the evidence of ?Planet Passion,? they've still got that 'future' ahead of them. Nobody does a better job assimilating Asian music genres and combining them with an American coffee house acoustic sensibility. Sure, I'm snobby about usually preferring to grapple with original source material from Indonesia, China, et al, discordant harmonies and all. But there are also times I just want to relax with the smooth and dreamy soundscapes Ancient Future whips up to a froth. Led by Matthew Montfort's often jazzy guitar, the ensemble excels at lots of foreign genres while still having the good sense not to try to do everything themselves. Guests including Manose Singh on bansuri flute, Ustad Habib Khan on sitar and Liu Qi-Chao on Chinese flute up the authenticity quotient without disturbing the homogeneity. That's not to suggest anything like dumbing down is involved. Montfort's ?Forest Frolic? is an aptly named romp for flutes, guitar, and percussion that blazes like a bluegrass number. ?Ocean of Love? with its reggae-inflected Afro-Slavic groove isn't your off-the-cuff concoction. And demonstrating that future is also past, the gamelan-esque ?Semara? stars the band's original line-up with the inimitable Mindia Klein on bansuri flute. Shamelessly beautiful, ?Planet Passion? is easily the pinnacle of this group's long career.? ? Bob Tarte, THE BEAT