Jon Hassell
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Jon Hassell (born 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.
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Life and career
Hassell received his Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. During this time he became involved in European serial music, especially the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen, and so after finishing his studies at Eastman, he enrolled in the Cologne Course for New Music for two years (founded and directed by Stockhausen). Hassell returned to the U.S. in 1967, where he met Terry Riley in Buffalo, New York and performed on the first recording of Riley's seminal work In C in 1968. He pursued his PhD in musicalogy in Buffalo and performed in La Monte Young's Dream House in New York City. On his return to Buffalo in the early 1970s, Hassell was introduced to the music of Indian Pandit Pran Nath, a specialist in the kiranic style of singing. Hassell, Young, Marien Zazeela (Young's wife) and Riley went together to India to study with Nath. His work with Nath awoke his appetite for world music, and on the album Vernal Equinox he used his trumpet to imitate the vocal techniques of Nath (treated with various electronic effects) where he stated:
- "From 1973 up until then I was totally immersed in playing raga on the trumpet. I wanted the physical dexterity to be able to come into a room and be able to do something that nobody else in the world could do. My aim was to make a music that was vertically integrated in such a way that at any cross-sectional moment you were not able to pick a single element out as being from a particular country or genre of music."
In 1980 he collaborated with Brian Eno on the album Possible Musics: Fourth World Vol. 1. Hassell's 1982 release Dream Theory in Malaya led to a performance at the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) Festival, organized by Peter Gabriel. In the late 1980s, Hassell contributed to Gabriel's Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ , the soundtrack album for Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ. Hassell and Pete Scaturro composed the electronic theme music for the television show The Practice.
Style
Hassell coined the term "Fourth World" to describe his musical style, as expressed both in his trumpet playing and in his approach to composition. This musical conception combines the philosophy and techniques of minimalism with Asian and African styles, and relies heavily on the use of electronic instruments. Critics of Hassell's style have noted its incorporation of New Age and world music styles, but have also detected the influence of Miles Davis, particularly Davis' use of electronics, modal harmony and understated lyricism.<ref>Mark Gilbert: 'John Hassell,' Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [November 7 2007]),<http://www.grovemusic.com></ref> Both on record and during live performances, Hassell makes use of traditional western instruments--keyboards, bass, electric guitar, and percussion--to create modal, hypnotic grooves, over which he plays microtonally-inflected trumpet phrases in the style of Nath's Kiranic vocals.
Discography
- 1977 Vernal Equinox
- 1978 Earthquake Island
- 1981 Fourth World, Vol. 2: Dream Theory in Malaya
- 1983 Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism
- 1986 Power Spot (produced by Brian Eno / Daniel Lanois)
- 1987 The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound
- 1988 Flash of the Spirit
- 1990 City: Works of Fiction (All Saints Records)
- 1994 Dressing for Pleasure
- 1995 Sulla Strada (release of soundtrack from 1982)
- 1998 The Vertical Collection
- 1999 Fascinoma
- 2005 Magic Realism, Vol. 2: Maarifa Street
Collaborations
- 1980 Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics with Brian Eno
- 2000 Hollow Bamboo with Ry Cooder and Ronu Majumdar (bansuri)
See also
