Opti-Mystic
by Mark Malachi
www.markmalachi.com

Opti-Mystic, Mark Malachi tells me, “is a collection of the songs that have gotten the greatest response from my many audiences” over 20 years of performances. These well received pieces, 16 songs, “mean a lot to me and to other people,” Mark told me at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I’ve known Mark about 15 years, and have been fortunate to hear him perform in different settings during that time. Mark has a singing voice that can hold you in awe, not necessarily of Mark, but of his voice and the depth of what he sings about. His voice gives feelings a revealing presence as in You Unravel Me: “All the veils are down. I’m left with only me … and I really don’t mind being undone. So unravel me. Let me spin back home to you.”

Once I danced to the music of his blues band. I’ve enjoyed his belly dance performances, and danced to his middle eastern music. I’ve meditated to his piano solos and his spiritually inspired vocals. I’ve chanted at Mark’s interfaith gatherings. I’ve played his music at my dance jams. And this is only a small hint at the breadth of creative experience that has gone into Mark Malachi’s collection of music. Mark shared with me that his “music is a wholistic expression of who I am. A song may be just a piece of who I am, but all of who I am goes into every song.”

Opti-Mystic reflects Mark’s performance of music with voice, piano, guitar, and percussion, and his activity in Interfaith and Unity Movements since the 1980’s. He has “sought to bridge the gulf of misunderstanding and xenophobia that has kept the various world faith traditions at odds for the last two thousand years.” He has served as Cantor in Synagogues and Minister at Unity Center of Peace in Chapel Hill, where he continues to contribute to the Sunday services and music program. Opti-Mystic includes piano solos, cantorial ballads, heartfelt songs of need, encouragement, relationship, and journey; with classical, pop, swing, and bluesy rhythms. Mark celebrates Universal Truth and community in music. Opti-Mystic is a full-course meal, and each taste is delicious. 

Mark Malachi conveyed that “I am open to all forms of spirituality, so my music is open to all forms of spirituality. I believe in One Universal God/Goddess/All There Is.” From House For Your Peace: “If it’s true what we sow we will reap/ Then kindness can be our seed/ We can grow a garden of love/ Then joy will be the fruit of our deeds.” 

Mark Malachi can best be reached for performance or to purchase Opti-Mystic for $20: Unity Center of Peace, P.O. Box 1327, Carrboro, NC 27510; www.unitychapelhill.org.

Freely contact me with feedback.
~ Review by Ron Rudin

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