Jon Hassell (born March 22, 1937) is an American
trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in
the
world music scene and his unusual
electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.
Life and career
Born in
Memphis,
Tennessee
, Hassell received his Master's degree from the Eastman School
of Music
in Rochester, New York
. 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 musicology in Buffalo and performed in La Monte Young's "Dream House" (aka Theatre of Eternal Music) 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,
Marian
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
Fourth World,
Vol. 1: Possible
Musics. Hassell's 1981 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.Mark Gilbert: 'John Hassell,'
Grove Music
Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [November 7
2007]),/www.grovemusic.com> 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
- 1980 Fourth World,
Vol. 1: Possible
Musics with Brian Eno
- 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
- 2009 Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the
Street
Collaborations
See also
References
- Mark Prendergast, The Ambient Century. New York and
London:Bloomsbury Publishing, 2000.
- Jon Hassell, program notes from Vernal Equinox. Lovely
Music, LML 1021, 1977.
External links
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