And Then There Were Four: Cy plays No Mystery but Will Always Remain a Mystery (1 of 4)

Nope, these are not the four strong winds, the four corners of the earth, names of archangels, or far from it - the horsemen of apocalypse. 

At a time when there were no formalities, but strict unspoken rites of passage to the world of music – these men served as my beacons, whether they were aware, admitted or not. “Mentoring” wasn’t a corporate buzzword then, but these folks lived and breathed it way beyond any ISO approved trainer. I will always be indebted to these four souls who are bright contrasts of immense talent while remaining real everyday folks – a rare pairing in today’s talent-obsessed-entertainment-happy world. 

Restless genius – artist, sculptor, thinker, spiritual sojourner, chemist, quantum physicist, writer, mystic - the real renaissance one. And though I have always been closely learning as much from him, all is consciously subdued under our friendship. Weekends and loose mornings on college was with him three blocks away from our home, talking about everything from quarks to Herbert to Corea to fiction to the Bible to free radicals. 

It began in a full gospel church setting where we we both served as musicians.  I knew he was from a seminary. We got acquainted, and he showed me his painting on a wall from their old place, a big beautiful pastiche of patterns done in three days. My brain disintegrated.

Cyril preceded IT standards of multi-tasking by decades. Far from a jack of all trades, he delivered everything in excellence. Resolved equations, done novels, timed sketches, songs – and don’t get me started on his powers on the keyboards and piano. 

His out of tune Winkelman upright sounded correct, every extended harmony - the 11ths, the #9s and 6ths jumping clear as he played originals like City in The Sky, Ashes, and more. It was too much for my feeble comprehension.

“Cy, can you do a traditional gospel progression?”, I asked, trying to detox from the barrage of Holdsworth worthy harmonies one morning. 

“Like this Bet?”. He switched the Korg N364to a B3 patch. 

I was not in his house anymore. I saw pews, revival preaching and my soul shouted Amen. 

Nowadays, we don’t see each other that much as life has twisted and turned us , I am glad though that he is actively mentoring a team, and a worthy prodigy Goy Pabuhat. I hope that the wheels would turn and afford us a time long lost.

He was with a band, a band formed and disbanded ad nauseaum with members playing revolving chairs. But he was always playing with one guy I only knew by reputation, a close brother of his. They played since the Gameroom and Cactus days, from new wave to Metheny to Azymuth, an English speaking guitarist who was a game apart the rest.

(to be continued)


click HERE for Cyril's Youtube Channel