The biggest let-down to me was that "the piece" basically got no notice at all. It's a really beautiful work, and still one of my favorites in anyone's catalogue. I just wanted people to hear it, live or Memorex, and to play it and participate in it. It came out of a time when I think Frank was at his absolute apex as an improviser and as a guitarist. The melodic/rhythmic invention is stunning, and the structural complexity and coherence overall, all done "on the fly" intuitively, put this piece and the Sinister Footwear 3rd mvmt theme in a class of their own. The kinds of things that Frank was able to improvise in that period are the kinds of things I hope I live enough lifetimes to be able to compose - or improvise.

As for not noticing the deception. That was so incredibly weird. I assumed that people would start laughing fairly soon, and that it would be really funny. But no one laughed. Ever. Once I realized that no one was getting it, it was really hard work to get through the rest of it. It was like "Holy shit, I really am on my way to the moon - no going back now". It might have been so easy if people had noticed. But we had to go through the whole experience knowing that they thought we were playing. I've done A LOT of weird things as a performer, but that performance felt REALLY strange. No guilt, I want to say emphatically. I have not one regret about that amazing and wonderful experience that only Frank could provide. What I regret are:

• Not being able to play the piece live, ever.
• No one seeming to appreciate the musical qualities of the piece itself (to some extent I would include Frank in this).
• The fact that the minor scandal that erupted like a pimple on the lower back of contemporary music never managed to generate any serious assessment or discussion of the very real ideas and issue that the "performance" of the piece addressed.