Gary Remal Malkin
John Beaudin - Hi Gary. Welcome to Smooth Jazz Now.com. We are expanding our New Instrumental (New-Age) pages so it's great to include you.

Gary Remal Malkin - Thanks John. I have heard of you and your work and your reputation definitely precedes you and that is a compliment.

John - 'Graceful Passages' really moved me besides being one of the best looking passages I've ever seen, I view it as one of the most important releases of the last few years.

Gary - Thank you. After twenty years of doing music for films, television, commercials and then only doing records over the last ten years, I can say that it is the best thing I have ever done or been a part of. Partly, that is because of the fact that we didn't do it for anyone but ourselves and there was never a 'good enough' status. It all had to be the best it could be. When the mix was complete before we added the real orchestra to the project everyone said to release it as it was and let it go. I knew that I didn't want it to be relegated to some short shelf life kind of thing and insisted on using some precious grant money we had at the time on a full orchestra at George Lucas's world class studio, 'Skywalker Sound.' I knew that the listener would feel the real human sweat and real wood and guts of the instruments and it would ring the bell of authenticity in a far more powerful way than if it were only samplers. We mixed that thing until there wasn't a single note out of joint. For me to finally have a project where I didn't have to rush it because of the production deadline was a total joy!

John - How did the project start?

Gary - My dear friend, Michael Stillwater had been affected by the death of his father. He was a spiritual musician, educator, community builder with music and started to sing at the bedside of those who were actually dying. As it turned out my father had recently died as well and it was a life changing experience for me. I think some of the inevitable losses that hit you by the time you start approaching your forties started to make me feel like chasing the fame and fortune by doing projects that got me lots of awards and money but it didn't hit the spot like I thought it would. I started to wonder, "Is that all there is?" Don't get me wrong, I was incredibly grateful for all of my Emmy Awards and all that but something was missing in my life and the only time I seemed to feel full was after I contributed my music to projects that made a difference in the world somehow. Environmental films, anti nuclear films, children with Cancer summer camp films, etc. So he called me at the perfect time, he had written many songs for people contemplating the 'doorway' as we called it and wanted me to produce and arrange them.
When we got together it became clear very quickly that the song form was not intimate enough for the depth we were trying to accomplish. So we both came up with the idea of having Michael speak a spontaneous prayer to someone who had just received a terminal diagnosis and I extemporaneously created some music under him. The moment we completed the seven minute improvisation we both had goose bumps. We knew that some alchemy had been born. The very magic that happens in the movies was happening only it was with spiritually focused, emotionally intelligent spoken words with an intention to touch someone very intimately. I started using the phrase 'scoring the human heart' rather than scoring a film. We started recording other people talking from a simple, intimate place that is all too rare in this world and then we would edit their voices and score them. I originally thought I would devote a few days putting together a demo with Michael but five years later here I am partners with him in the creation of a whole foundation. It is dedicated to responding to the human need for connection with the meaningful application of wisdom and music. We have a whole series of volumes planned on love, on courage, on forgiveness, etc. It has changed my life.

John - It's been said many times that we humans have such a problem digesting the concept of death and dying. Do you think we're getting better at it?

Gary - I think we are all getting better at wanting authenticity and realness. Michael and I call it 'Living Presence.' People all over whether they are very conservative and traditional or more adventurous and avant garde seem to want more candor, more honesty. One way to describe honesty would be in terms of intimacy, depth, the straight stuff and people are starving for it especially after 9/11. Somehow people are more aware of the fragility of life and therefore the preciousness of it all as well. So I think it is inevitable that we all have been getting better at facing the concept that we are all not going to be living forever. Don't get me wrong, we are all as a culture quite draconian with regards to the mentioning of the 'D' word. There are some major distributors who are so out of touch with the public that they won't even distribute 'Graceful Passages' because it has the 'D' work in the title. To me, given the state of affairs in how we as a culture die the situation is barbaric. I mean, the statistics are astounding. More than 90% of all deaths in North America are not only improperly treated with regards to pain (either too much medication or too little) but also they are emotionally and spiritually unsupported. With regards to death and dying it truly is the Dark Ages in our culture much as it was forty years ago with regards to Birthing. There are some good signs though that we are starting to face it in the mainstream culture. The book and TV movie 'Tuesdays with Morrie' had a profound impact on our culture's readiness to deal with the subject. The major motion pictures like 'What Dreams May Come' and 'My Life as A House' definitely reflected a culture grappling with deep issues about life and death. The incredible Broadway play and HBO telefilm 'Wit' starring Emma Thompson was also a watershed event in the exposing of our inhumane medical system's approach to looking at end of life as a 'medical failure' rather than a natural phase in the cycle of life. These and many other things are indications that the mass culture is facing the issue with less denial. The west's whole obsession with the youth culture and with the avoidance of the winter phase of the life cycle is deeply disturbing to me. Metaphorically and literally it can be seen everywhere and I think we suffer as a people because of it.

John - 'Graceful Passages' is being used in a lot of Hospice's but this is one of those albums much like Elizabeth Kubler Ross's 'On Death and Dying' book is a must for every house. Everyone deals with death but even more of us deal with loss and I think the album is good for that too.

Gary - I am so glad you see that. When Ram Das heard the whole CD he told us, "You know this is more for all the boomers who are realizing that they're not going to live forever and whose parents are all facing the autumn of their lives than actually people who are dying." We do get tons of letters from people whose lives have changed by introducing this into a process where a loved one is facing a serious illness or end of life process. However, we have found that the most receptive audience, ironically, are the people who are not necessarily in any crisis whatsoever but who are strengthened by listening to the profoundly touching words of these spiritual teachers and reminded what is most important in life. After all, it is not the 'to do' lists, not the constant chasing after the buck but being a compassionate and caring friend and family member. Like they say, when you are at your death bed you won't be raring to try to take care of your 'in box' at the office. Chances are you will want to be with those you love and wanting to let them know how much you appreciate and love them. Many people use it as a morning meditation. All spiritual traditions include a death practice as a spiritual practice at some point and many use it as a bereavement tool. Many say after a loved one has passed away that the CD helps them feel more assured that there is a continuity of spirit. That their loved one is definitely not gone, in spite of having shed the 'mortal coil' and the comfort that it brings is a treasure beyond words.

John - How did you meet Michael Stillwater?

Gary - We were playing music at a party him and I way back in 1976. We both love to sing and love counterpoint and harmony. We instantly recognized that we were musical kindred spirits, brothers in a deep sense, both deeply committed to the interconnectedness of all beings and deeply committed to the healing of the planet. He was more courageous about being 'out' with his spirituality at the time. I had some oats to sow with regards to career dreams so I aggressively pursued my career in films, television and commercials and while I did feel for the longest time that I had to keep my spiritual passions private and away from the work I was doing in the media worlds. After I completed my CD 'The Music of the Great Smoky Mountains' in 1996, I started feeling like I was being split in two and needed to stop leading the double life of hiding my spiritual beliefs and dedication. I also realized that if I didn't start going after the work that I truly loved I would start feeling stale about my work. I still love working for film and TV but the projects need to have some redemptive quality or I just lose interest. Michael would always ask me to play on his CD's through the years and also perform in his spiritual community gatherings 'Chant Wave' which is experiencing a true renaissance right now. About twice a year we would connect and in 1997 he asked me if I would produce his songs for people who were facing end of life or loss, which ultimately leading to him giving up the concept of doing his songs so I could create a film score style approach to spoken word that ended up being the 'Graceful Passages' project.

John - You and Michael started 'Companion Arts?' How did that come about?

Gary - When we started seeing the power of the work we were doing we realized that we had come upon an alchemy (of spoken wisdom and music) that we had never experienced before. The kinds of reactions we were getting from people from all walks of life were unanimous and extraordinary. We realized that we wanted to create a foundation where we could continue to produce many volumes of the 'Wisdom of the World Series' on the issues that mattered most to human beings and we wanted to create events and experiences that reinforced the values in the resources we were creating. Everything was infused with a universal spirituality. Everything honored the innate wisdom and purity of every human being and everything was infused with a medicine that reinforced the unity of all beings. We just converted everything we have been doing for the last five years into the non profit, with the mission being 'Companion Arts Foundation,' 'responding to the human need for connection with the meaningful application of wisdom and music.'

John - The soundtrack for 'Thousand Pieces of Gold' to me is just a superb masterpiece. Few albums in that genre have touched me like that one does. How did you get involved in the project and what was your mindset when you put it together?

Gary - I had already worked on a score in the eighties with the director/producer team of Nancy Kelly and Kenji Yamamoto on a film about Cowgirls of all things! They became wonderful friends and were the most determined first time feature creators I have ever had the pleasure to see. They worked their asses off getting private investors for their beautiful film 'Thousand Pieces of Gold' and ultimately doing it with American Playhouse films and had always planned to hire me for the job. I knew I was going to be tapped for the gig 3 or 4 years before they started production! I had studied ethnomusicology in college it was my minor along with a music composition major. I studied instruments from China, North and South India, Bali and many other places. So I was most excited about creating the music for this film because my concept was to use Chinese instruments in synergy with western orchestral instruments. It was, after all, a film about a Chinese woman in the 1880's who was sold into slavery during the time of the Idaho gold rush and it was the story of how she earned her freedom. So I used actual musicians from Beijing to represent her in a strange country and it was a real pleasure creating a palette out of the blend of west and east.

John - Is this new instrumental music gig a tough living? I talk to some musicians who do quite well while others find it a tough existence.

Gary - I don't restrict it to calling it that. I am a composer, a producer, a musician, a pianist, a singer, an orchestrator, an arranger and a performer. Ironically, living in an area where the work is not as plentiful as it is in L.A. or N.Y. has forced me to be extremely adaptable to many types of modalities and genres, something that as a Gemini really suits my nature. I would be bored stiff if I got type cast in L.A .as a TV composer and with all the reality TV I have been known for (I have been doing the show Unsolved Mysteries for 14 years) I would have died just doing TV work. Instead, I have done a ton of commercials and documentaries many of them socially responsible, a bunch of films and lots of TV movies. In the last decade I have loved producing other artists like Rhiannon of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra and SoVoSo fame. I produced the first accapella interactive vocal improvisational CD called 'Flight' on Sounds True Records and it's one of the most interesting things I have ever done!
What is hard is now that I have hit this point in my life where after I have done tons of work and got lots of awards, I still am judged by what my last gig was and that is another reason why I have spent so much of my time and energy on 'Graceful Passages.' I don't want to waste my life waiting by the phone for a job when most of the jobs aren't even about subjects that would add value to the world. So my strategy is like my friend, the radio announcer, Scoop Nisker says, "If you don't like the news, go out and make some for your self." Only in my case replace the word 'news' for work. I have been blessed to have never had any other job in my life except the making and playing of music and I am deeply grateful.

John - You have done music for a lot of different projects from film to TV; tell us some of the projects you¹ve worked on in the past?

Gary - Well, like I have said I have been doing the music for 'Unsolved Mysteries' the Robert Stack reality show since 1987 or so. I have been doing most of their Movies of the Week. I have created the music for over a thousand commercials since 1979, a function of living in the Bay Area. I did a bunch of politically aggressive documentaries like "Dark Circle" on the insanity of using nuclear power for electricity, HBO's 'Five American Guns' on the pros and cons of having a gun in the home, a ton of environmental films, pro-bono projects and about seven features over the years. One of the funny ones is that I did a score for the first break dance film, called 'Breakin' with my old partner, Michael Boyd. I couldn't have been the more unlikely composer to be hired for that job but I was on a roll with the film company having just created a score for them for orchestra in Rome on time and under budget, a film called 'Maria's Lovers.' I am once again putting my self out there for media work under the auspices of my new production company, 'Musaic.' I hope to get involved with people who are interested in making media entertainment that will inspire, touch the heart and catalyze some social change.

John - Tell me about what you're working on now.

Gary - For 'Companion Arts' Michael and I are building the structure of non-profit so that we will be funded and strong to achieve the goals of the 'Companion Arts Foundation.' On the docket is to create a book/CD project that will encompass the Courage aspect and the Acceptance aspect of life combining the best of 'Graceful Passages' with the elements that will assist people in having strength for the journey. Again, a wisdom and music project with a book attached. I am now launching 'Musaic' as well so that I hope to do film and TV projects that are inspiring and make a difference in the world. At the moment, the most engrossing thing I am involved in is creating the live commemorative event for 9/11 at the Washington National Cathedral, on 9/11 at 8 P.M. The people at the Cathedral (which is the cathedral 'of state' for the USA) had become aware of 'Graceful Passages' and asked me to create and music direct the service which is inspired by the form of graceful in that it will combine instrumental music, songs and spoken testimonies of people whose lives have been profoundly changed by the service and altruism they were moved to offer as a result of the tragedy. It will be an extraordinary event and I am looking forward to it!

John - Gary It's been a pleasure to have you on Smooth Jazz Now.com

Gary - John, thanks so much for your interest in our work. Michael Stillwater and I really appreciate the exposure to your audience. I hope we meet someday and all the best.

Interview from late 2002

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