In 1977, I was asked by Cage if I had an interest in recording his Three Constructions for percussion ensemble for Tomato. I was excited by the idea and after many discussions with Cage, we decided this recording would be the definitive recording of these works - which meant making sure all the instruments were authentic and performed in the manner that Cage had realized with his original percussion group. For example, in the Third Construction, each of the four percussionists is required to play three tom toms (as Cage referred to them in the score) each. Today, virtually all performances and recordings use traditional tom toms which is incorrect. Cage actually wanted Indian Drums, which are wood shells with animal skin tacked to the shells - a totally different sound than traditional tom toms.

It took me a full year to locate and procure the correct instruments - thanks in large to the great Emil Richards of Hollywood studio fame. I began to rehearse with a group of contemporary music percussionists. We had formed a group called Tintinnabulum. Somewhere between the recording process and the release of the CD, a Tomato executive decided to change the group name to the Donald Knaack Percussion Ensemble. Imagine being in a group, working hard on a record, recording it beautifully, awiting the release and when it comes out, the name of your group has been changed? That was a typical Tomato backhand!

The CD was recorded at Capitol Records in Hollywood in Studio A. The same studio where Sinatra, Streisand, Bennett and many others made recording history. The engineer was Mitch Tannanbaum, a member of the Capitol staff and an absolute genius behind the mixboard. The recording was made analog and didital. It was one of the first digital CDs ever made! The digital company was Soundstream of Salt Lake City, UT - which is where we did the final digital editing.

The CD was released to great critical success. But by the Tomato was in financial trouble. I and none of the musicians were ever paid for the work on the CD. Cage was also owed monies by Tomato which led to a regret he carried until he died.

Now, here we are in 2008, the CD has been on the marketploace shelves for thirty years and is one of the top selling Cage records of all time. And Tomato Records and its honorable President Kevin Eggers have restarted the label with little success. You know what they say about karma.