John Cage

A nice little documentary on John Cage, composer extraordinaire.

They get into a little bit about the open and chance qualities of his music. Openness is a characteristic of compassion. Open as in capable of generating a great deal of acceptance and accommodation. Its a neglected quality in a time when the bottom line and split second judgments are in the forefront.

A while back, I had gotten it into my head that I was going to do an interview with John Cage for a Buddhist publication. John Cage is a god in the world of new music and everyone involved in music was somehow affected by his work. I had read that he always answered his phone because he would say, you never know when you will meet a Buddha. I'm not a Buddha but I knew he would answer the phone.

So I tracked him down by phone and ended up talking with a well known musician in New Mexico where he had been staying, all with relative ease and with no obstacles in my way. Everyone was amazingly helpful. Then the next day, he passed away. Talk about chance, it was very sad and distressing.