CYNIC Bassist SEAN MALONE Dead At 50

[Ravenpride]

CYNIC's longtime bassist Sean Malone has passed away. He was 50 years old. No cause of death has yet been revealed.

The news of Malone's passing was broken by his CYNIC bandmate, guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal, who took to his social media earlier tonight (Wednesday, December 9) to write: "I learned today that Sean Malone has died. I am numb and grief stricken. He had a brilliant mind, a gracious heart and was one of the greatest musicians I've ever encountered.



"I know that this is a shocking loss for so many fans whose lives he touched with his artistry, as it is for me," Paul added. "Please keep him in your thoughts and listen to his playing to celebrate his life."

Malone joined CYNIC just in time to play on the band's classic debut album, 1993's "Focus". Malone proved to have quite a good musical chemistry with the rest of the band, and ended up hitting the road with CYNIC on the "Focus" tour.

After the band's initial break-up, Malone continued to work as a session bassist, performing on over 50 records. He also authored four books — "Music Theory For Bassists", "Dictionary Of Bass Grooves", "Rock Bass", and "A Portrait of Jaco: The Solos Collection" (a book of transcriptions of Jaco Pastorius's bass solos) for the Hal Leonard Corporation. In the academic field, Malone had papers on theory and music cognition published and gave presentations at conferences such as the Society for Music Theory, The International Conference of Music and Gesture, and The Glenn Gould Conference, and taught at the University of Central Missouri and Carnegie Mellon University as assistant professor of music theory.

Malone made one album under his own name, "Cortlandt", which was released in 1996 and reissued in 2007. He also assembled and recorded GORDIAN KNOT's self-titled debut, released in 1999. He rejoined CYNIC in May 2008 and played with the band for most of the past decade.

Malone is the second member of CYNIC's classic lineup to die in 2020. This past January, the band's founding drummer Sean Reinert was found unresponsive at his California home. He was only 48 years old. At the time, Malone issued a statement praising his former bandmate, saying Reinert "offered his trust during every rehearsal, every recording, and every performance we ever did, and it's likely that I'll never experience the same again. The truth is that we're all lucky — lucky to have been alive while Sean Reinert was making music."

In 1991, Reinert and Masvidal joined the legendary Florida band DEATH to record the "Human" album. After touring with DEATH, they returned to CYNIC.

R.I.P

[Ravenpride]

"Since my friend and CYNIC bandmate Sean Malone's passing in late 2020, many people have publicly speculated about, and privately reached out to me regarding, the circumstances of his death. I have kept my silence as I have worked through my grief and out of respect for Malone's privacy. Questions and rumors have persisted, so I want to share what I can with the many fans whose lives he touched so deeply and who are seeking closure.

"On December 7, 2020, Malone was found dead by suicide in Largo, Florida, where his mother had lived. She had been ailing for some time before her death in 2018; Malone had been her sole caregiver during her difficult final year. Then, in January 2020, we suddenly lost our bandmate Sean Reinert. Combined with his mother's loss, it was an emotional double whammy that hit Malone hard.

"After his mother's death, we spoke often, having long chats about grief, loss, and the future of CYNIC. I urged Sean to move out to California and live with me so he could get back on his feet and start fresh, and he did. I noticed a newfound vigor in Malone I hadn't seen before. He was excited to be in the world again, we were working on new music, and he even began teaching bass privately. Then came the pandemic. Everything shut down and so did Malone. His pain and suffering re-emerged and his light began to dim.

"Matters took an unexpected turn. Late one early summer night, he disappeared. I called him, left messages, texted, emailed, contacted missing persons and everyone we had in common, but no one had heard anything. There was no response. He quit the world. My hope that he was regrouping in private and would turn up safely turned to heartache on December 7th.

"As I share this sad news about his death, I want to celebrate his life by sharing one of his most beautiful and lyrical moments ever recorded, and one which his fans have not yet heard. A few years after the release of CYNIC's 'Re-Traced' EP, Sean Malone recorded fretless bass on this solo guitar and vocal track titled 'Integral'. Here's a video celebrating his playing, and a full transcription in his honor along with the song file for download.

"I am grateful to be able to share this video with you now, and I will share details about new music in the coming weeks. Please celebrate the genius and transcendent talent that was Sean Malone. Read more about his fascinating life, unique passions and accomplishments at his Wikipedia page.

"As an act of support, and in honor of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, I invite you to donate as you wish for the 'Integral' song download which comes with a guitar/bass transcription of the song and an instrumental (no bass mix) for fellow musicians to play along with. 50 percent of proceeds will be shared with suicide prevention organizations To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) and The Trevor Project. The remaining will go towards funding a documentary about the lives and artistry of Malone and Reinert.

"With love and courage, Paul Masvidal".