From: rsillima@ix.netcom.com (Ron Silliman) Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1996 04:09:28 -0800 Subject: Re: Cage for beginners (again)

...

Which reminds me of Michael McClure's gagaku sessions in SF about 15 years ago. Michael would invite a group of friends over every Sunday morning to improvise some music, modeled after the Japanese court practice that was (as it was explained to me -- I make no claims for accuracy here) instituted once it was realized that, having abandoned rhyme, poets needed special training in music. Regulars seem to have included Michael Palmer, Phil Whalen and the composer Chris Gaynor. I was one of several occasional invitees. I recall struggling with a koto while we collectively played a score that was, in point of actual fact, a Navaho blanket.

Ron Silliman rsillima@ix.netcom.com