John Morgan [John] Newbern (28/11/1944 - 31/01/2020), an American composer.
Newbern: "I was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 28, 1944 to parents of Swiss and French ancestry. The direction of my life, as influenced by my parents, was to be towards the military. In December of 1955, at eleven years of age, a series of unusual events surrounding my visit to Kukulkan’s Pyramid in Yucatan, Mexico changed that direction forever. The presence of the ancient Mayan temple so touched my curiosity and my life that the next decades would be spent in search of a meaning to all of this, a search for the root of the truth.
Thirty years ago my teacher was a Tibetan lama of the order of the Ancient Ones, or Nyingmapa. I should say here that it is without a doubt a dear price that I've paid for the information I received, far beyond any dollar value that might be assessed. Following that initiation I was given a directive to “go teach” this information to those who are able to comprehend it. Now, thanks to the modern computer I am able to share this information more readily.
Today I am in Northern California with my dearest Kiyo-chan, our kitties, bunnies, and garden, living right on the faultline and enjoying the later part of my life, making a continued effort to follow Rimpoche’s directive."

John Morgan Newbern first performed this unusual music in the mid '60's under the name Malachi. His first recordings from an M.G.M.-Verve album entitled "Malachi/Holy Music" broke previously unexplored ground. Today, almost 40 years later, listeners from around the world continue to be inspired and comforted by John's unusual and timeless performances.

John was an accomplished twelve-string acoustic guitarist and for many years performed his own compositions under the stage name "Malachi". He was also a devoted student of Tibetan Buddhism under Tarthang Tulku of Nyngma Institute in Berkeley. He leaves many recordings, such as "Holy Music" (MGM Verve, 1966), "a prayer for the dying" (Malachite Music Publishing, 1995), "just playing for the moon" (Malachite Music publishing, 2000). He also leaves us "Tri-Kaya: Music and E-books for the Mind", available at www.tri-kaya.net