In Memory of Charlie Gillett
- Heo Yoon Jeong, a Geomungo player and the leader of Tori Ensemble-

 On March 18th, I was stunned with the news of Charlie Gillett''s death and felt like I had lost my long time friend and supporter of my music. Charlie Gillett, an authority in world music radio and writer in music, has also been known recently as one of the most influential figures in world music. His book, ''The Sound of the City'', has been praised by the Time Magazine and New York Times and sold over a quarter million copies world wide. The reception of Sony Lifetime Achievement Award and ''Best Specialist Music Show'' at the Sony Awards shows the diverse aspects of Charlie Gillett as a publisher, record manager, and radio show host.

 However, I express my deepest respect for the integrity he has shown in the way he approached music and hosted his radio shows. Charlie Gillett called himself a maverick DJ and selected music he wanted and liked to play. He was not influenced by record companies or radio production departments for his selections. I first met Charlie Gillet at the Cafe Magots, a beautiful cafe in a traditional Korean house setting in Bukchon, Seoul in October of 2009. There was a meeting of several artistic directors and performers who were invited by PAMS(Performing Arts Market in Seoul). The meeting had already begun when I arrived at the cafe after finishing the rehearsal for a showcase which was to be held at a theater soon after the meeting. The participants in the meeting were sitting on two different tables and I took a sit next to a caucasian gentleman who seemed to be the oldest person in the meeting. A lean figure with silver hair, dignified, and with piercing eyes; that was my first impression of Charlie Gillett. I only knew him as the host of a world music program on the UK''s BBC Radio. I introduced myself and gave my EPK(a PR brochure with a DVD recording of my performances) and one of my albums to him. Charlie examined my album with an expressionless face and told me that he was only interested in the album and not the EPK. With the EPK still held in my hand, feeling a bit rejected, I began participating in the meeting. However in the meeting, Charlie seemed to be excited about the newly found world of Korean traditional music and started making strong arguments for branding Korean traditional music as ''Gukak'' and introducing it to the world music market. With the brief moments of warmth found in his sharp argument and his unbiased affection for Gukak and all music, the feeling of rejection I felt with the uncomfortable first encounter with Charlie Gillett a moment ago turned into the feeling of meeting someone who was truly genuine. I later heard a story about Charlie Gillett and sensed the humanity in him; sometime after PAMS was over, he attended a Korean traditional music performance in Bukchon and became overwhelmed with emotion and shed tears after listening to the performance.

 Time has passed after the meeting and I was preoccupied with many performances and with the end of the year atmosphere in December when I received an email message from Charlie Gillett. He was brief with warm greetings and told me that he enjoyed my album and had been playing it in his radio show. I was also delighted to hear the news from him that he wanted to include my music in a compilation album he produces annually. He sent me short email messages in which he told me that he intends to keep introducing me and my geomungo music to the wide audience in the UK. Those heartwarming messages made me realize how he really likes and enjoys music. You could sense his beliefs and passion in music from an anecdote about how he played a track over and over again for as long as six weeks when he found a track he liked. He was unlike other world music radio program presenters who introduce only one track from each of the hundreds of albums shipped into their radio stations. Charlie Gillett believed that if he listened to and really enjoyed a piece of music, he was responsible for playing the music until it was known to enough people. This uniqueness in him is one of many reasons why so many musicians, producers, and listeners all over the world are saddened by his death. Musicians make and play their music knowing that if they do not enjoy their music themselves, neither would others; and if the others do not enjoy their music, they will certainly not be impressed by their music. More importantly, musicians need good producers who truly loves and enjoys their music to bring their music to the world. Musicians and producers today struggle to find  relationships in which they can sympathize with each other through a piece of music, have discussions, and share their friendship. The music world today needs producers who do not compromise their beliefs and sometimes are more artistic than artists themselves. Today when many producers limit themselves as business persons and do not genuinely communicate with musicians, Charlie Gillett presented the true image of a producer with eyes that are more discerning than those of artists and with sincerity and genuine passion in music.

 Charlie, on a reply to my letter in which I stated my intention of meeting him in the UK after my European tour dates became finalized, forwarded me the copies of email messages he had sent to producers and friends close to him in order to plan my performances in the UK. Now I am saddened by the fact that I would not be able to see him again even if I visited the UK. I express my sincerest condolences to his family.

Heo Yoon Jeong, a composer and geomungo artist, is the artistic director of Bukchon Changwoo Theater in Seoul. From 2007 to 2008, she was a recipient of residency artist by Asian Cultural Council and expanded her activities to New York. She is also the leader of Tori Ensemble, a multi-national world music group created in New York. 

Charlie Gillett presented Heo Yoon Jeong''s Geomungo Dance Part 2 (Geomungo Solo, C&L/EMI, CNLR 0626-2) on 12 Dec 2009, at Charlie Gillett''s World of Music (BBC World Service).