Mario Vaz De Mello Inevitable CD

BiographyCanadian pianist and composer Gary Sill was born to a band leader father and journalist mother in the small town of Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1944. He has been a musician, composer and teacher in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton and now lives with his wife Carole Harmon in the Canadian west coast city of Vancouver where he records and performs his own music.

The heart of Gary's musical style is accomplished piano improvisation which is inspired by western melodic styles, indian ragas, and jazz improvisationGary is engaged in ongoing studies with French composer, Hidayat Inayat-Khan, son of the the Sufi mystic and musician, Hazrat Inayat-Khan.

Through the Banff Centre For The Arts, Gary has worked or studied with:• Steve Reich, John Cage, R. Murray Schaffer, Oscar Peterson, Carl Berger, Ursula Oppens, and other influential contemporary composers.

• Stephen Temmer, (audio engineering) and Gene Youngblood, (future of electronic media).

Music Studies at The University of Calgary:• Composition with Luigi Zaninelli and Piano with Gloria Saarinen. • Electronic Music with Dr. Stan Finn• Film History with Miroslav Malik (Czeck pioneer of holography in art).

Additional informal training included music theory with Gordon Delamont, Native Indian Culture with Abe Burnstick and Improvisational Acting with Keith Johnstone (University of Alberta).

Instructor at Grant McEwan College (Jazz Program):• piano, ensemble performance, music theory, sight singing and ear training, vocal accompaniment.

Julie Rader had asked me to bless her new yoga center (Mukti Yoga) with some chanting. It was a festive occasion and I dressed with style ~ a neon green metallic kurta with hot pink pajama pants and curly-toe Indian sandals. When we got home from chanting and my landlord was waiting in the driveway, perhaps my garish outfit stunned him into silence, so I said nonchalantly, "How ya doin'? What'd'ya do, sell the place?" He said, "As a matter of fact, yes."The Lokaha mantra was played in a spontaneous monotone at the Mukti Yoga blessing, and it was staying in my head. So even though we needed to find a place, pack the boxes, sell the furniture, I felt compelled to go in the studio and record "the bookend." I dumped percussion tracks from other projects, and mixed and matched grooves. I sang a scratch vocal. As the project progressed, I liked it more and more. And it was really helping me stay in a positive space. I invited a response choir and Katisse to do flute. The vibe was beautiful. We sang and added dub, echoes & effects and finished the track. I moved my boxes into a new house, pinned up some curtains on the windows, and finished the CD. I hope you like it.