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Image: 77square.com

Art Garfunkel has eased into his late 60s like a philosophical marshmallow, softened around the edges by his family and full of poetic musing.

Best known as the golden-voiced partner of Paul Simon, Garfunkel has enjoyed a long singing career, supplemented by ventures into acting, poetry and cross-continental walking expeditions. His most recent album, “Some Enchanted Evening,” charts his love of old standards — Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Rogers & Hammerstein. He’ll be performing these and other songs during a solo performance at the Overture Center on Thursday, April 9.

Art Garfunkel wasn’t the only one to pick up the phone in his New York City apartment when 77 Square called for an interview on a recent Sunday morning.

At first, we could only hear the shallow breathing of the mysterious eavesdropper. Then he made his presence loudly known.

“Mommy! Mommy, somebody’s on the phone! Mommy! Somebody’s on the phone, mommy! MOMMY!” And then to the caller, in a tiny voice, “Hello?”

“It’s my little 3-year-old,” Garfunkel said with a patient sigh, before heading downstairs to get his son Beau off the phone.

Art Garfunkel: There was a silver lining in that interruption: his adorability. It’s religious, this adoring business. I adore that little guy. At my advanced age, I’m in love with the baby experience. I write poems about him. I just wrote one just yesterday, and it went right through me.

77 Square: What do you mean?

AG: As you get older and your spiritual capacity seems to get like wine, it gets enriched. More and more data and experience make you more deeply touched by life. I’m entranced once more to see my wife and I, thank God, in this stability and beauty and friendship. The rest is — get out of the way of God’s intention! Look at the billions of tons of green settling into the trees. Get out of the way! (Laughs.)

77: You’ve spoken a lot recently about a gradual personal transformation over the years from “cool to warm,” and how you’re attracted more to the positive side of life now instead of the darkness. What instigated this change?

AG: The big crease in life is having children. I had James 18 1⁄2 years ago with Kim. And from that moment on, I was a touch more protective about my choices. You stand guard over what you love. No longer do you go out of the house with your libido. When the sun goes down, you enjoy your scene at home. When that set in on me, I was ready and happy. And here I am some two decades later, having a nice time at home.

77: What’s going through your mind and body when you’re on stage?

AG: It’s a thrill. When it’s going right, it’s a fabulous Zen Eastern duality. Like Michael Jordan on the basketball court, when it’s flowing, you’re just surfing off of all of that reality. You lift off the ground a little. God says, “All right, you’re worthy to be in the zone, and now it shall all take care of itself.” It feels like inspiration has bit me and I’m on the wave.

That sounds like I can just let it be, but no. You’re thinking like crazy with an intense focus that’s microscopic. It becomes a ride of the intuitive capacity of the human being to combine skills and to have a lift-off when you make combinations. That’s a musician’s kick.

77: You’re famous for your beautiful voice. Does that put pressure on you? Do you have special ways to care for your voice — dietary rules, etc.?

AG: I’ve been singing all my life. I’ve been resisting calling (my voice) a “Thing.” I use my ears: when it sounds nice, it’s good, and when it doesn’t, that’s bad. Just that. Once I made a movie with Jack Nicholson called “Carnal Knowledge” and Jack and I used to say, “Here’s a scene tomorrow where we’re going to go to work. I think we should bet against our own brain. Whatever our intelligence tells us about this scene, I think that’s the wrong stuff. It’s dumber than that. It is coming from a place that’s sub-us. So, never mind our intelligence.”

There are times when you just get out of the way. You subvert your instincts and you let it be.

77: “Flight of the Conchords” (the musical comedy duo with an HBO show) is performing in Madison just a couple weeks after you …

AG: Really, on the same stage? Should I put some graffiti in the dressing room?

77: Yep, same venue. What was it like to tape a cameo appearance with them?

AG: They’re gentlemanly, professional. Bret (McKenzie) was an intensely nice guy. What a great New Zealander! He is part of a partnership; I am part of a famous partnership. He had a lovely sense of “I honor your history, Mr. Garfunkel.” New Zealanders are good. They’re peaceniks in my eyes. And there’s Jemaine (Clement) — he knows when he presents himself with his Art Garfunkel hairdo that it’s a moment between us off-camera. You just have to bite your tongue and not laugh.

77: Did the experience spark an interest in acting in or writing your own comedy?

AG: I am in the mood to say ‘yes’ and free up to choices that come by me, more than usual. All through the years, I’ve used the theory, ‘Stick to what you know how to do (well) and be careful of your ego.’ I’ve gotten good encouragement as a singer, but there I have such a rooted confidence and my own ears tell me everything. However, I’ve had some good reviews as an actor and I enjoy it, so what the hell?

77: Are you working on any upcoming projects or a follow-up album to “Some Enchanted Evening”?

AG: I’m not working on a new album. The truth is, my feeling about the record business has gone a little kaflooey. The business is hardly there, it’s a speckled affair instead of a real edifice.

I am confused now as to how, as a recording artist, you go from the studio to the folks. It looks like it’s all downloadable, stream-of-water faucet, hot-and-cold stuff. How do you make any entity — like a “Good Vibrations” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water” — have specialness? Andy Warhol was right, everybody is famous for a millionth of a second. It’s the Internet.

The age of a really special movie or really special album where it’s a work of art and it’s perceived that way, is dissipating a little bit. It’s a funny age for people like me. However, I carry on with a love of life. As my wife says, “Just you be busy making value, and never mind the scene or the cynicism.”

So, I’m thinking of a Simon and Garfunkel tour in the Far East that might come to America or might not, but we’ll certainly work in Japan and Australia. That’s coming up in June and July, and that’ll be fun. I like working with him. He’s a great musical partner.

77: When you appeared at the Overture Center a few years ago, you praised the acoustics of the theater.

AG: I see. I’m so happy you said that because I don’t lie. So I must have truly said, “This is a musical treat.” Personally, I go to town when the room is good. The thing I’m bringing to Madison is a completely playful reinterpretation of my show. At this point in my life, I want to play with my own repertoire and set list; fool around a little more, loosen up.