Ancient-Future Com Records presents The Archive of Future Ancient Recordings. The main band from the label’s roster, Ancient Future performed its first concert on February 11, 1979, at the Sleeping Lady Cafe in Fairfax, California. Since then, the band has gone on to perform hundreds of concerts nationally and internationally and release seven full-length recordings that have established Ancient Future as the trendsetting pioneers of world fusion music, a term coined by Ancient Future bandleader Matthew Montfort at the group's inception for music that combines ideas from many of the world's great musical traditions. During Ancient Future's 30th anniversary year, a new Ancient Future band project was conceived: the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings: AFAR. The concept of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings is to involve fans of world fusion music in supporting the production of an archive of live and studio recordings of cross cultural collaborations. The best of these recordings will be selected to be released commercially at a "future" date, at which point they will be on their way to becoming "ancient" recordings, hence the title. To finance A.F.A.R., Ancient-Future.Com Records has been quietly providing financial supporters access to select files from Ancient Future's archives of alternate takes, live concerts and radio performances along with new studio recordings as they are created. The full archive of recordings is available during the project exclusively to supporters, and when the archive is complete, a portion of the recordings will be selected for commercial release on Ancient-Future.Com Records. Thirteen percent of the fundraising goal has been raised at concerts and through the Ancient Future Times, the band's email newsletter. On February 11, 2014, the exact 35th anniversary of the first Ancient Future concert, the first two final studio tracks make their debut in the archive, bringing a total of 10 tracks and 70 minutes of music to the archive. That just happens to be exactly two minutes of music per year that the band has been performing, so Ancient Future's 35th anniversary seems the perfect date for the official public unveiling of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings to the media. During this 35th anniversary year, a few singles from the archive will be released to raise awareness of the project. Many more tracks are ready to record as additional funding is secured. There are four supporter thank-you packages available ranging from $15 to $75, and while donations to the A.F.A.R. project are not currently tax deductible, donations of any amount are greatly appreciated! There is a range of benefits for the various packages, including the A.F.A.R. email newsletter (which provides a window on the recording process as it develops), immediate access to downloads of the recordings placed in the archives, digital liner notes, limited edition CD-R's of the archives when complete with printed liner notes signed by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort, video and 24 bit audio files for hi-res playback on computers, and a 30% discount on the advance copies of the final commercial release. 35th Anniversary Update Additions: To celebrate Ancient Future's 35th year of performances, two new studio tracks have been added to the archive and are available to A.F.A.R. supporters. East of the Sun reunites original Ancient Future members Matthew Montfort and Benjy Wertheimer with help from Paul McCandless of the band Oregon. The basic tracks for this poignant piece with an Afro 5/8 groove and a haunting melody were recorded live in the studio on 4/1/2011 by Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Benjy Wertheimer on tabla, and Mariah Parker on santur, and it was added to the archive as a trio version. Additional scalloped fretboard guitar and fretless bass parts by Matthew Montfort and oboe parts by Paul McCandless were recorded in Ancient Future's newly upgraded studio in 2013, producing this lush new quintet version. It is available to supporters of the archive in mp3, CD quality, and 96-kHz/24-bit hi-res audio file formats. Recorded in December 2013, Yearning for the Wind is based on Rag Kalyan (an evening raga that corresponds to the Lydian mode) and set in matta tal, a 9 beat cycle divided 6, 1 1/2, 1 1/2. This evocative piece will be released as a single on iTunes on Earthday, April, 22, 2014. But it is available to supporters of the Archive of Future Ancient Recordings right away in mp3, CD quality, and 96-kHz/24-bit hi-res audio and HD video. Yearning for the Wind features scalloped fretboard guitar innovator Matthew Montfort and Indian tabla virtuoso Vishal Nagar, who is considered one of the most gifted tabla players of his generation. Born into a family of musicians, Vishal had his initial training with the late Ustad Latif Ahmed Khan of the Delhi Gharana, and received intense rhythmic training from his mother, the renowned and highly respected Kathak dancer and vocalist, Urmila Nagar.

Metal Mind Records
(Poland) / February 23, 2014

As previously announced, Metal Mind will re-release the debut album by the best Polish hard rock band Kruk. The album entitled “Before He’ll Kill You” was first released in 2009 and now will be available again in a new digipak edition enriched with three bonus tracks recorded live in 2011. The release date is February 24th in Europe and March 11th in North America (via MVD). The album should be interesting for fans of such big artists as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Dio.

Moonjune Records
(USA) / February 23, 2014

Machine Mass pairs the legendary saxophonist Dave Liebman (Miles Davis, Elvin Jones) with longtime collaborator drummer Tony Bianco (Elton Dean, douBt) and guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object, douBt). Graced by Dave Liebman’s extraordinary phrasing and improvising skills, the project’s new album “INTI” combines free improvisation with tight rhythmic structures, post-Bitches Brew time signatures with ambient episodes, spreading across different musical and spiritual realities, both playfully and intensely. The band ventures into the fiery electro-jazz territories explored by Bianco and Delville’s recent Machine Mass Trio, which also showcased both musicians’ capacity to listen closely and improvise over unpredictable chord, rhythm and time changes while handling live electronics and computer loops.

MoonJune proudly presents Susan Clynes - pianist, singer, songwriter from Belgium. For fans of Kate Bush, Annette Peacock, Tori Amos. “Life Is…” marks the international debut of Susan Clynes. This release was compiled from three live concerts done at two different locations, each one with a unique band configuration. The Archiduc, an historic Art Deco bar in Brussels dating back to 1937, served as the backdrop for two of these performances. The first was done in trio format with Nico Chkifi on drums and Pierre Mottet on bass. The second was a more intimate solo performance at the Library of The Cultural Center of Bree. The third and final performance saw the return to the Archiduc, this time as a duet with Simon Lenski on cello. Each band configuration provided its own framework and pallet of tonal colors for these diverse sound portraits. “A Good Man” and “Ileana’s Song” make playful use of the drumkit and bass. These clever songs lie somewhere between Slapp Happy-era Dagmar Krause, Elaine Di Falco’s work with Thinking Plague, Annette Peacock and early period Kristin Hersh in her band, Throwing Muses. The chiefly instrumental piece, “Les Larmes”, a composition about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is brimming with emotional expression making excellent use of the cello as a universal human voice. The distilled and emotive songs for voice with piano accompaniment bring to mind such undervalued luminaries as Laura Nyro and Essra Mohawk. Susan’s piano work runs the gamut from such radio-friendly performers as Tori Amos and Fiona Apple, briefly dipping into Tony Banks-like arpeggiations and cascades, and arriving at the jazz-inflected polytonality of French composer, Darius Milhaud.

Fantai’zic Records
(France) / February 23, 2014

Akromareleases its third album, "La Cene". The group plays in in the style of Symphonic Extreme Metal, a violent, powerful and technical music magnified by dreamy melodies and orchestrations of realism. An ambitious concept album, both quirky and poetic, "La Cene” tells the story of a man who, in his desire for revenge, will replenish the last supper of the most gruesome ways. Line-up: Alain Germonville – screaming; Matthieu Morand – guitar; orchestrations, Pierre-Yves Martin – bass; Thomas Das Neves – drums and Laura Kimpe – vocals, plus guest musicians: Helene Dautry – cello; Lorraine François – harp; Sophie Habert – narration.

Parma Recordings
(USA) / February 23, 2014

“Abhanden”, Chicago based cellist Chris Wild's debut album on Navona Records, features six compositions for solo cello and small ensemble that stretch across multiple decades and concepts of style. Focusing on the unification of the diverse aesthetics of contemporary music, “Abhanden” seeks to demonstrate the shared ends of expression these six pieces exhibit.

“Resolve”, the latest release on Navona Records from two-time Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, showcases three Paul Hindemith clarinet-focused works, two of which are premiere recordings for Stoltzman. Album Web-Application includes study scores, interviews with Richard Stoltzman and composer/pianist Yehudi Wyner, and more. These highly acclaimed compositions include Hindemith's Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, originally written for Benny Goodman, Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet Op.30, previously released by Tashi - the beloved ensemble of which Stoltzman was a founding member - and Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, featuring Yehudi Wyner.

“European Folkscapes” showcases traditional European folk melodies in dynamic new contexts, featuring original arrangements for string quartet transcribed from field recordings by the critically acclaimed Apollo Chamber Players. The premiere album on Navona for the Apollo Chamber Players also includes "Fantasy on Bulgarian Rhythms" by Karim Al-Zand, a newly commissioned work illuminating Apollo's mission to explore the intersection of classical and folk/ethnic music.

“For the Young Artist”, composer Michael Glenn Williams' debut on Navona Records, features Sean Chen, a rising star pianist who had his 2013 break through winning the prestigious American Pianists Association DeHaan Classical Fellow Award and the Crystal Award at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, performs the works of Williams. Ranging from a tender and romantic lullaby, to up-tempo waltzes and sounds that would suggest a full brass band, Sean Chen performs the works in a way that deftly expresses the relationship between composer and performer.

The McCormick Percussion Group returns to Ravello Records for their sixth release, “Soli for Soprano with Percussion Orchestra”. Continuing their passionate advocacy for percussion music, this album showcases the collaboration of solo soprano, featuring critically acclaimed soprano Jamie Jordan and percussion orchestra.