Malcolm Cecil (9 January 193728 March 2021) was a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

bassist, record producer, engineer and electronic musician. He was a founding member of a leading UK jazz quintet of the late 1950s,

the Jazz Couriers The Jazz Couriers were a British jazz quintet formed in April 1957 and which disbanded in August 1959. The quintet's first line-up consisted of Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott on tenor saxophones,The Jazz Couriers at David Taylor's British jazz web site
before going on to join a number of British jazz combos led by

Dick Morrissey Richard Edwin Morrissey (9 May 1940 – 8 November 2000) was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. Biography Background He was born in Horley, Surrey, England. Dick Morrissey emerg ...

Tony Crombie Anthony John Kronenberg (27 August 1925 – 18 October 1999), known professionally as Tony Crombie, was an English jazz drummer, pianist, bandleader, and composer. He was regarded as one of the finest English jazz drummers and bandleaders, an oc ...

and

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He later joined

Cyril Davies Cyril Davies (23 January 1932 – 7 January 1964) was an English blues musician, and one of the first blues harmonica players in England. Biography Born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham, Buckinghamshire, he was the son ...

and

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...

to form the original line-up of

Blues Incorporated Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Davy Graham, Ginger Baker, Art W ...

. Cecil subsequently collaborated with

Robert Margouleff Robert Margouleff is an American record producer, recording engineer, electronic music pioneer, audio expert, and film producer. Career The Birth of TONTO Margouleff was an early customer, friend and collaborator of fellow New Yorker and music in ...

to form the duo

TONTO's Expanding Head Band Tonto's Expanding Head Band was a British-American electronic music duo consisting of Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Despite releasing only two albums in the early 1970s, the duo were influential in the development of electronic music a ...

, a project based on a unique combination of synthesizers which led to them collaborating on and co-producing several of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

's Grammy-winning albums of the early 1970s. The TONTO synthesizer was described by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' as "revolutionary".

Early life

Cecil was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 9 January 1937. He became a

radio ham An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators hav ...

by the age of nine. He worked as an engineer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the time that he was learning to be a professional jazz musician. He became a member of

's group during his 20s, before changing styles and becoming one of the founders of

. Cecil moved to South Africa before relocating to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in the mid-1960s. After a stint at the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

recording studio of

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

, Cecil settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and began to modulate.

Career

With

, Cecil formed the duo

, a synthesizer-based project. The duo were closely associated with

's ''

Talking Book ''Talking Book'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 27, 1972, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album and '' Music of My Mind'', released earlier the same y ...

'' (1972), sharing the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical award as well as collaborating on and co-producing classic Wonder albums such as ''

Music of My Mind ''Music of My Mind'' is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with Motown that allowed him full artistic ...

'', ''

Innervisions ''Innervisions'' is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has bee ...

'' and ''

Fulfillingness' First Finale ''Fulfillingness' First Finale'' is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "cla ...

''. Cecil is credited, with Margouleff, as engineer for the Stevie Wonder-produced album ''

Perfect Angel ''Perfect Angel'' is the second studio album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released on August 9, 1974 by Epic Records. The album contains the biggest hit of Riperton's career, "Lovin' You", which topped the U.S. Pop Singles chart for one w ...

'' (1974), by

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...

. Cecil and Margouleff began constructing "The Original New Timbral Orchestra" (TONTO) in 1968. It became the largest analog synthesizer, as well as the most advanced one at the time. It had a height of , a maximum diameter of , and a mass of one ton. The massive synthesizer with Malcolms revolutionary newly designed joy stick modular and pioneering a way to make the multiple keyboards to play more than one key at a time and could talk to each other for the first time made revolutionizing the way Synthisizers could be played forever. TONTO's debut was the pair's first album ''Zero Time'' (1971). Their unique sound made them highly sought-after and they went on to collaborate with, amongst others,

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

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Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocali ...

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Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

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, and

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

. TONTO also appeared in ''

Phantom of the Paradise ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is a 1974 American rock musical comedy horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma and scored by and starring Paul Williams. In the film, a naïve young singer-songwriter (played by William Finley) is tricked ...

'' (1974), although Cecil was reportedly incensed because he had not approved of its use in the film and only used it as a prop. . The vocalist

, who wrote that he considered Cecil a creative genius, along with keyboardist Brian Jackson enlisted Cecil and his TONTO synthesizer for the production of their collaborative album, ''

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

''. Scott-Heron and Jackson were featured on the album cover with the synthesizer. TONTO was described as "revolutionary" by ''

'', but it eventually fell behind more modern synthesizers that were simpler to utilize.

Later life

Cecil sold TONTO in 2013 to the

National Music Centre The National Music Centre (NMC; french: Centre nationale de musique) is a non-profit museum and performance venue located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The centre's permanent building, branded Studio Bell, is located at 850 4th Street S.E. in Down ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. Through John Leimseider, the museum finished a complete restoration of the synthesiser five years later, with Leimseider dying shortly afterwards. TONTO continued to be on display there at the time of Cecil's death. Cecil died on 28 March 2021. He was 84 and suffered from an unspecified long illness prior to his death. Malcolm was survived by his wife of 63 years, Poli Cecil, and their son, Milton "Moonpup" Cecil.

Honours and recognition

Cecil was nominated for and won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

for best engineered recording – non-classical. This was in recognition for the work he did with Margouleff on Wonder's ''

''. He and Robert Margouleff beat

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's ''

Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of t ...

'' and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's seminal ''

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John, first released on 5 October 1973 as a double LP. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magn ...

''. Malcolm and Margouleff were also nominated for best Engineer (non-Classical) in 1973 for ''Talking Book''. Cecil was later bestowed the Unsung Hero award for lifetime achievement by ''Q'' magazine in 1997.

Discography

;As leader/co-leader

Solo

*1981 ''Radiance''

With TONTO's Expanding Headband

*1971: ''Zero Time'' *1974: ''It's About Time'' *1996: ''TONTO Rides Again'' (compilation of above) ;As sideman *1961: '' It's Morrissey, Man!'' –

Quartet *1961: ''The

Orchestra'' *1961: ''Let's Take Five'' – Emcee Five *1962: ''Bebop from the East Coast'' – Emcee Five *1971: '' Where Would I Be?'' – Jim Hall Trio *1973: '' 3+3'' –

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

*1974: '' Live It Up'' –

*1975: '' The Heat Is On'' –

*1976: ''

Harvest for the World ''Harvest for the World'' is the fourteenth studio album released by The Isley Brothers on their T-Neck imprint on May 29, 1976. The album was remastered and expanded for inclusion in the 2015 released CD box set ''The RCA Victor & T-Neck Albu ...

'' –

*1978: ''Secrets'' –

(with Brian Jackson) *1980: ''

'' – Gil Scott-Heron (with Brian Jackson) *1980: ''Real Eyes'' –

*1981: ''Reflections'' –

*1982: '' Moving Target'' –

*1983: ''Shut 'Um Down''; ''Angel Dust'' (singles) –

*1994: ''Spirits'' –

*1996: ''A Jazzy Christmas'' – Bill Augustine *2009: ''A Jazzy Christmas 2'' – Bill Augustine *2011: ''

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'' –

(with

Jamie xx James Thomas Smith (born 28 October 1988), known professionally as Jamie xx, is an English musician, DJ, record producer and remixer. He is known for both his solo work and as a member of the English indie pop band The xx. He has been described ...

)

Production, programming, and/or engineering

As producer, programmer, and/or engineer:

With Stevie Wonder

*1972: ''

'' *1972: ''

'' *1973: ''

'' *1974: ''

'' *1991: ''

Jungle Fever ''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...

Various

*Dave Mason – ''It's Like You Never Left'' (1973) *Mandrill – ''Beast From The East'' (1975) *

– ''

It's My Pleasure ''It's My Pleasure'' is the tenth studio album by Billy Preston, released in June 1975 (July in the UK) on A&M Records. The album shows the modernisation of Preston's music, placing a heavier emphasis on synthesizers. It was also his first colla ...

'' (1975) *

– ''

'' (1976) *

– ''

Motivation Radio ''Motivation Radio'' is the third studio album by British art rock musician Steve Hillage. Whilst touring in the United States in promotion of his previous album '' L'' (1976), Hillage grew disillusioned with the progressive rock tag attached to ...

'' (1977) *Savoy Brown – ''Kings of Boogie'' (1989 – recording engineer) *Neil Norman – Greatest Science Fiction Hits lV (1998) *Pete Bardens – ''Watercolours'' (2002)

References

External links

* *
Malcolm Cecil
NAMM Oral History Interview (2016)

obituary in New York Times (2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil, Malcolm 1937 births 2021 deaths English record producers English composers British jazz bass guitarists Musicians from London Blues Incorporated members