A Chance Operation : The John Cage Tribute (1993)

"'Music was the main way John Cage made himself into who he was' writes David Revill, one of the many contributors to 'A Chance Operation'. And the Cagean aesthetic is indeed one of constantly shifting contexts for everything that 'sounds', be it interrupted silence, teeming radio signals, standard instruments employed in tonal exploration (including Cage's own 'prepared' pianos) or that ongoing, undifferentiated improvisation that we habitually call noise. Cage remains the pivotal force, and the fulcrum for all 22 composers gathered together on these two CDs: most selections are either by him (texts or music), inspired by him or dedicated to him. His spirit is felt everywhere, yet rather than stifling or inhibiting, it served to liberate a veritable flood of invention. Indeed, it is both touching and apposite that Cage's legendary 4'33' of inhabited silence be entrusted to the late Frank Zappa who, the odd shuffle notwithstanding, simply sits by and lets it all happen..." (meer: gramophone.co)