Help Preserve the Legacy of Malcolm Cecil, Pioneer of Modern Electronic Music

We are in the early stages of forming a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the life’s work of Malcolm Cecil — and we’re inviting the music community to help build its foundation.

If you know Malcolm’s name, you already understand his impact.

If you don’t, you’ve still heard him — in the grooves, in the circuitry, in the very language of modern sound.

As the co‑creator of TONTO, the world’s first and largest multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer, Malcolm helped rewrite what music could be. His collaborations with Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, Quincy Jones, Gil Scott‑Heron, The Doobie Brothers, Bobby Womack, and so many others shaped the sound of an era. His fingerprints are on the records that changed lives, inspired careers, and opened entire worlds of possibility.

Malcolm wasn’t just a genius — he was a builder, an inventor, a mentor, and a quiet revolutionary whose ideas still pulse through studios and stages today.

But behind all of that, he was a father.

His only surviving son, Milton “MoonPup” Cecil, grew up inside the magic — inside the sessions, the circuitry, the late‑night experiments, the fearless creativity. Milton carries those memories in a way no one else can. And now, with the recent passing of his mother, he is the last Cecil who lived through Malcolm’s most prolific years.

When Malcolm died in 2021, his archives, recordings, writings, inventions, and personal materials became scattered. No institution, no collector, no organization has ever taken on the full scope of preserving his legacy. Without action, much of Malcolm’s history — the stories, the sounds, the innovations — could be lost forever.

Milton is determined to prevent that.

He is beginning the urgent work of locating, securing, and preserving the pieces of his father’s 70‑year creative journey. This includes:

This GoFundMe supports that critical first phase — the work that must happen now, before materials disappear, degrade, or become inaccessible.

If Malcolm’s music shaped your ear ...

If TONTO shaped your imagination …

If his innovations shaped the tools you use today …

Then you already know why this matters.

Your contribution helps ensure that Malcolm Cecil’s story — and the sound he gave the world — is not lost to time. Together, we can build the organization that will finally give his legacy the home it deserves.

Thank you for helping preserve the legacy of a true musical pioneer.