Cecil designed and built the TONTO — The Original New Timbral Orchestra — an instrument that’s acknowledged as the world’s first and largest multi-timbral, polyphonic analog audio synth.
He teamed up with Robert Margouleff to form TONTO’s Expanding Head Band, which led to some surprise collaborations.
Cecil and Margouleff’s sonic mastery caught the attention of Stevie Wonder, who tapped the pair to co-produce a string of classic albums, including Music Of My Mind through Fulfillingness’ First Finale.
“Music of My Mind was made with the best hearts in the world. Everything we did was done in that three-point of view aspect,” he told OkayPlayer’s Chris Williams for an interview published in 2019, “and we were trading hats during the process of making this album.” He continued, “There were three of us. We could fill each of the spots, without any breaching, and we could switch hats instantaneously.”
Cecil would work with a who’s who of the music community in the ‘60s and beyond, including The Isley Brothers, Little Feat, Richie Havens, Gil Scott-Heron, Quincy Jones, James Taylor and Randy Newman.
Cecil won the only Grammy Award he was nominated for, taking out the best engineered recording-non-classical category at the 1973 ceremony for Wonder’s Innervisions.
In 1997, the U.K.’s Q Magazine honored Cecil with the Unsung Hero award for lifetime achievement.
