Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various world ethnic traditions with modern electronic techniques. The concept was first articulated on Fourth World, Vol.
Also recorded as Jon Hassel
Jon Hassell
American trumpet player and composer.

Kotoviski photographed by Henryk Kotowski · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Jon Hassell
- Born
- 22 March 1937
- Birthplace
- Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
- Died
- 26 June 2021
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · trumpeter · actor
- Fields
- trumpet performance · music composing · composed musical work · music composition
- Education
- Eastman School of Music
- Languages
- English · German
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Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various world ethnic traditions with modern electronic techniques. The concept was first articulated on Fourth World, Vol.
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gnd · 10304241-6 · museum · 0ac4fff0-03e9-4b0d-977b-ba94fb475030 · wikidata · Q782528 · wikipedia · Jon Hassell
In this article
Biography
Biography
1: Possible Musics, his 1980 collaboration with Brian Eno. Jon Hassell was born in Tennessee, Hassell studied contemporary classical music in New York and later in Germany under composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. He subsequently worked with minimalist composers Terry Riley (on a 1968 recording of In C) and La Monte Young (as part of his Theatre of Eternal Music group), and studied under Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. His association with Brian Eno in the early 1980s would introduce Hassell to a larger audience. He subsequently worked with musical artists such as Talking Heads, David Sylvian, Farafina, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, Ani DiFranco, Techno Animal, Ry Cooder, Moritz von Oswald, and Carl Craig.

Jon Hassell performing at Stockholm JazzFest09
Kotoviski photographed by Henryk Kotowski
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jon Hassell • Born — 22 March 1937 • Birthplace — Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. • Died — 26 June 2021 • Instrument — * Trumpet • electronics • Genre — * World • ambient • avant-garde • minimalism • electroacoustic • Years Active — 1968–2021 • Label — * Editions EG • Intuition • Water Lily Acoustics • Lovely Music • All Saints • Ndeya • Associated Acts — La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Farafina, Theatre of Eternal Music, Marian Zazeela, Techno Animal, Ani DiFranco, David Sylvian, Ry Cooder • Website — https: jonhassell.com/
Life and career
Life and career
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 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 (founded and directed by Stockhausen) for two years, where he met Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay, who would later go on to form Can. 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 Ph.D. in musicology in Buffalo and performed in La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music in New York City, contributing to the 1974 LP Dream House 78′ 17″. 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, and Riley went together to India to study with Nath. His work with Nath awoke his appetite for traditional musics of the world, and on the album Vernal Equinox, he used his trumpet (treated with various electronic effects) to imitate the vocal techniques to which Nath had exposed him. 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 and appeared on the Eno-produced Talking Heads album Remain in Light. The same year Hassell also performed solo at the Mudd Club. Plans had been made with Eno and David Byrne for the three of them to team up for what became "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," but the plan fell through when Hassell didn't agree with the direction the tracks were taking. His 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. He performed and co-wrote tracks on David Sylvian's first solo album Brilliant Trees, and its instrumental EP follow-up Words with the Shaman. In the late 1980s, Hassell contributed to Gabriel's Passion, 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. In 1989, Hassell contributed to the Tears for Fears album The Seeds of Love. Hassell died from natural causes on June 26, 2021, at the age of 84. He had had health issues over the course of the previous year.
Style
Style
Hassell coined the term "Fourth World" to describe his work on "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." He used extensive electronic processing of his trumpet playing. In addition to nonwestern traditional musics, critics have noted the influence of Miles Davis on Hassell's style, particularly Davis' use of electronics, modal harmony, minimal vibrato and understated lyricism. Both on record and during live performances, Hassell made use of western instruments—keyboards, bass, electric guitar, and percussion—to create modal, hypnotic grooves, over which he often played microtonally-inflected trumpet phrases in the style of Nath's Kiranic vocals. His use of circular breathing on the instrument enabled him to create long, seamless, and mesmerizing melodic lines.
Identity
Identity
Jon Hassell is recorded as composer, trumpeter and actor. American trumpet player and composer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1937
Jon Hassell born at Memphis.
2021
Jon Hassell died.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
US.
Country
Memphis.
Birth place
Discography
• As leader or co-leader • Vernal Equinox (Lovely Music, 1977) • Earthquake Island (Tomato 1978) • Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics (Editions EG, 1980), with Brian Eno • Dream Theory in Malaya: Fourth World Volume Two (Editions EG, 1981) • Aka/Darbari/Java: Magic Realism (Editions EG, 1983) • Power Spot (ECM, 1986) • The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound (Intuition, 1987), live recordings • Flash of the Spirit (Intuition/EMI Electrola, 1988), with Farafina • City: Works of Fiction (Opal/Warner Bros., 1990; expanded edition on All Saints, 2014) • Dressing for Pleasure (Warner, 1994), with Bluescreen • Sulla Strada (Materiali Sonori, 1995), with I Magazzini • The Vertical Collection (Sketches) (Earshot, 1997), with Peter Freeman as Bluescreen Project • Fascinoma (Water Lily Acoustics, 1999) • Hollow Bamboo (Water Lily Acoustics, 2000), with Ry Cooder, Ronu Majumdar and Abhijit Banerjee • Maarifa Street: Magic Realism Volume Two (Label Bleu, 2005) • Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street (ECM, 2009) • Listening to Pictures (Pentimento Volume One) (Ndeya, 2018) • Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) (Ndeya, 2020) • Single tracks on compilations and remixes • "Map of Dusk" on compilation Myths 3: La nouvelle serenité (Sub Rosa, 1987), recorded in 1985 with J.A. Deane • "Pygmy Dance" on compilation Ai Confini / Interzone (New Tone, 1993), recorded live in Italy 1988 • "Streetfaxx" and remixes by 808 State on EP Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) (Opal, 1990; reissued on All Saints, 1993 and 2006) • Personals, maxi-single with remixes of "Personals" and "G-Spot" by MC 900 Ft Jesus and Organized Konfusion (Warner, 1994) • "Then and Now (Berchidda)" on compilation Then and Now (Time in Jazz 1998 | 2007) (Tàjrà It., 2008), live recording from 2001 in Italy with John Beasley, Rick Cox • As sideman and guest appearances On almost all recordings Jon Hassell played trumpet (sometimes merely 'used' as sound color). In cases where he plays keyboards or electronics it is mentioned in the last column; the same applies to the credits as composer (or producer). Film soundtracks are labeled "O.S.T." (original sound track) preceding the film title. Artists and labels are linked by first appearance only. • Date — Leading artist or band — Album title — Label — Track titles and notes • 1968 — Terry Riley — In C — Columbia — ensemble member • 1974 — Francesco Guccini — Stanze di vita quotidiana — Columbia — ensemble member • 1974 — La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela — Dream House 78′ 17″ — Shandar — ensemble member (quartet) on one of two extensive tracks • 1980 — Talking Heads — Remain in Light — Sire — on "Houses in Motion" • 1982 — Brian Eno — Ambient 4: On Land — Editions EG — on "Shadow" • 1984 — David Sylvian — Brilliant Trees — Virgin — on "Weathered Wall" and "Brilliant Trees", co-composer • 1985 — David Sylvian — Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities — Virgin — on "Words with the Shaman Part 1–3", co-composer; also released as EP • 1985 — Peter Gabriel — O.S.T. Birdy — Virgin/Charisma — ensemble member • 1987 — Lloyd Cole and the Commotions — Mainstream — Polydor — on "Big Snake" • 1989 — Alice — Il sole nella pioggia — EMI — on "Il sole nella pioggia" and "Le baccanti", pre-sampled trumpet sounds activated by keyboard on "Visioni" • 1989 — Peter Gabriel — O.S.T. Passion (Music for The Last Temptation of Christ) — Real World/Geffen/Virgin — on "Passion" • 1989 — Tears for Fears — The Seeds of Love — Fontana — on "Standing on the Corner of the Third World" and "Famous Last Words" • 1991 — Marc Beacco — The Crocodile Smile — Polydor/Nova — on "Funeral for a Flower", co-composer • 1991 — Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses avec Hector Zazou — Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses avec Hector Zazou — Philips/Phonogram — on "Anima", "In la piazza" and "Notte", co-composer • 1993 — Ry Cooder — O.S.T. Trespass — Sire/Warner — ensemble with Jim Keltner • 1994 — Stina Nordenstam — And She Closed Her Eyes — Telegram/East West — on "Crime" and "I See You Again" • 1995 — Techno Animal — Re-Entry — Virgin — on "Flight of the Hermaphrodite" and "Needle Park", co-composer • 1996 — David Toop — Pink Noir — Virgin — on "Slow Loris Versus Poison Snail", co-composer • 1997 — Jackson Browne — The Next Voice You Hear: The Best of Jackson Browne — Elektra — on "The Next Voice You Hear" produced by T-Bone Burnett • 1997 — k.d. lang — Drag — Warner — on "Hain't It Funny?" • 1997 — Holly Cole — Dark Dear Heart — Alert — on "All the Pretty Little Horses" • 1997 — Ry Cooder — O.S.T. The End of Violence — Outpost — featured trumpet soloist • 1998 — Ry Cooder — O.S.T. Primary Colors — Outpost — on "Wide Sky", co-composer • 1998 — The Insects & Richard Grassby-Lewis featuring Jon Hassell — O.S.T. Love and Death on Long Island — OceanDeep — featured soloist • 1998 — Mandalay — Empathy — V2 — on "It's Enough Now", "This Time Last Year" and "Beautiful" • 1998 — Ani DiFranco — Little Plastic Castle — Righteous Babe — on (probably one track) • 1999 — Guy Sigsworth — O.S.T. G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time — Island — on "Who Would You Have Me Love" with Hinda Hicks • 1999 — David Toop — Hot Pants Idol — Barooni (Nl) — on "Wing Beats", trumpet and harmonizer, co-composer • 2000 — Hal Willner — O.S.T. The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture — Interscope — on "Never Let Me Go" and "Amsterdam Blue (Cortege)", co-composer and track production • 2000 — k.d. lang — Invincible Summer — Warner — on "Simple" • 2000 — Mandalay — Instinct — V2 — on "Not Seventeen", "Don't Invent Me" and "It's Enough Now" • 2000 — Nick Wood — Sound Virus — Victor (Jp) — on "Confined to Ice" • 2001 — Ani DiFranco — Revelling/Reckoning — Righteous Babe — on "Revelling" • 2001 — Howie B. — Folk. — Polydor — on "Tap Dancer", co-composer • 2001 — Rick Cox — Maria Falling Away — Cold Blue — on "Long Distance", composer • 2002 — Frou Frou — Details — Island — on "Flicks", "The Dumbing Down of Love" and "Old Piano" • 2003 — Ibrahim Ferrer — Buenos Hermanos — World Circuit/Nonesuch — on "Fuiste Cruel" and "Boliviana"; album produced by Ry Cooder • 2004 — Lightwave (with Paul Haslinger) — Bleue comme une orange — Signature — on "Huang/Hong" and "Deep Steel Dubh" • 2004 — Alexkid — Mint — PIAS — on "Mint", co-composer • 2005 — Paul Haslinger — O.S.T. Sleeper Cell (TV series) — Rhythmbank — on "Memento Mori" with Sussan Deyhim, co-composer • 2005 — Ry Cooder — Chávez Ravine — Nonesuch/Perro Verde — on "Don't Call Me Red" • 2006 — Hadouk Trio — Utopies — Naïve — on last three tracks, co-composer • 2007 — Paul Haslinger — O.S.T. Sleeper Cell: American Terror — Lakeshore — (not specified) • 2007 — Ry Cooder — My Name Is Buddy — Nonesuch/Perro Verde — on "One Cat, One Vote, One Beer" • 2007 — Harry Gregson-Williams — O.S.T. The Number 23 — New Line — featured as soloist • 2007 — Michael Fahres — The Tubes — Cold Blue — on "The Tubes (1994/2003)" with Mark Atkins • 2008 — Jan Bang and Erik Honoré as Punkt — Live Remixes Vol. 1 — Jazzland — on tracks "III" and "VI", co-composer • 2008 — Ani DiFranco — Red Letter Year — Righteous Babe — on "Star Matter" • 2008 — k.d. lang — Watershed — Nonesuch — on "Upstream" • 2008 — Ry Cooder — I, Flathead — Nonesuch/Perro Verde — on "Flathead One More Time" • 2009 — Jon Balke & Amina Alaoui — Siwan — ECM — ensemble member, trumpet and electronics • 2010 — Jan Bang — …And Poppies from Kandahar — Samadhisound — on "Exile from Paradise", co-composer (also for another track, due to trumpet samples) • 2011 — Paul Haslinger — O.S.T Underworld: Rise of the Lycans — Lakeshore — featured musician • 2015 — Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba — Ba Power — Glitterbeat (G) — on "Ayé Sira Bla = Make Way" • 2015 — Duncan Sheik — Legerdemain — Kobalt — on "Brutalized" and "No Happy End" • 2016 — Genre Peak (Martin Birke) — Your Sleekest Engine — Gonzo — on "Metanoia", trumpet samples and/or sampler
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q782528: Jon Hassell
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Jon Hassell”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Institutional database
- MusicBrainz artist record for Jon Hassell
Scholarly · MetaBrainz Foundation
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 10304241-6, Jon Hassell and Bluescreen.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
MusicBrainz artist record for Jon HassellMetaBrainz Foundation
Verifiedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 10304241-6, Jon Hassell and Bluescreen.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q782528: Jon HassellWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
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(MusicBrainz artist record for Jon Hassell) • Country: US (MusicBrainz artist record for Jon Hassell) • Described As: American trumpet player and composer (MusicBrainz artist record for Jon Hassell) • Kind Of Artist: person (MusicBrainz artist record for Jon Hassell) • Born: Jon Hassell was born in 1937 at Memphis.
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