Matthew Montfort and Bui Huu Nhut of Ancient Future Perform on Rachel Maddow Show

Matthew Montfort Showcases Unusual Guitars at Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival

Matthew Montfort, guitarist and bandleader of the pioneering world fusion music group Ancient Future, was interviewed and performed on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC on Friday, September 24th, 2010. Kent Jones, the Rachel Maddow Show's pop-culturist, was in San Francisco September 23rd and 24th to cover the opening of the Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival. Matthew Montfort kicked off the festival by showcasing his unusual guitars: the Godin Glissentar, an 11 string fretless guitar, and the scalloped fretboard guitar, a special modified instrument able to produce ornaments characteristic of the sitar.

The 'Just Enough' with Kent Jones segment airs during the last few minutes of the Rachel Maddow Show and aims to provide viewers with just enough pop culture news. During the sound check for the festival, Kent Jones interviewed the musicians and played many of the instruments himself. After sound check, Kent Jones and his cameraman videotaped the entire opening night of the festival. The September 24th, 2010 'Just Enough' segment features Kent Jones trying out some of the unusual instruments at sound check along with interviews with Matthew Montfort and some of the other Music for People and Thingamajig Festival performers. Montfort was asked to demonstrate the unique musical features of the Godin Glissentar.

A selection from Matthew Montfort's Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival performance was the only music from the festival that was featured on the Rachel Maddow show. Montfort performed his piece, 'Purple Raga,' from his Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar recording, but in this unusual arrangement, he was accompanied at the end by Bui Huu Nhut, a master of the dan bau, a traditional Vietnamese single string instrument with an indigenous version of a whammy bar. Bui Huu Nhut is well known to fans of Ancient Future from his performance of 'Jah Nam' on Ancient Future's Asian Fusion recording, which was also featured on the Putumayo sampler, Asian Lounge. The two performed a spontaneous improvisation based on the guitar solo section of 'Purple Haze' by Jimi Hendrix. They received a standing ovation from the festival audience.

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