JON HASSELL DISCOGRAPHY version 2.0 Feb. 10, 1994 I've expanded the Jon Hassell discography from previous version to include musician credits, track listings and liner notes when available. I thought that an overview of who he has played with might help interest some folks who haven't yet heard Jon's music. The track titles themselves to me carry a sense of mystery and magic that help convey the diverse ethnicity, magic and mystery of Hassell's music. Brian Eno, Percy Jones, David Sylvian, Peter Gabriel, Nana Vasconcelos, Jean-Phillipe Rykiel and Ayibe Deing are just some of the well known artists he's worked with over the years, but Jon Hassell still seems to remain fairly unknown after at least 20 years of composing and performing music. Hassell releases are found in my local music stores under jazz, new age, avant-classical, and electronic sections, depending on which store, and I have even found his cds in three different sections of the same store. His music is hard to categorize, but it has ties to the minimalists and 20th century classical music, indian classical vocals, ethnic percussion, and synthesizers and classical and modern electronic music. Trance music is perhaps one description that helps explain the connections from Hassell's earliest releases to his latest work with 808 State doing dance-rave remixes of material from "City: Works of Fiction". Hassell uses a rich palette of acoustic and electronic instruments and processing to create textures and voices which form a mystical musical language where Third world music blends with minimalists, jazz, and modern electronics technology to create what he describes as "Fourth World music". "Fourth World - a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." I'm not sure where the quote came from as I lost the reference, but Hassell launched his Fourth World Music ideas some years ago and they seem to be catching on. A winter 1993/94 issue of "i/e" magazine covers a variety of "Fourth World" music artists. Jon Hassell primarily plays trumpet, but it's generally a highly processed trumpet sound that sounds like no other trumpet player I've ever heard - it drifts and weaves with an other-worldly texture that moves his music into another dimension. Hassell has created his own musical language by incorporating his processed trumpet and synth textures with non-western tunings, and rhythms and percussion from many non-western sources, which makes for a music that sounds like it's not from any particular culture. Peter Gabriel's Passion and the solo work of Jeff Greinke are the only artists I can think of who get anywhere close to the territory Hassell is exploring. There's a lot of interest in "world music" and international ethnic music today, but Hassell has been working in these areas since his first release in 1978. He studied in India, learning to mimic the sounds of indian classical singing with his trumpet's voice. He also studied under Karlheinz Stockhausen. He apparently also worked with early minimalist La Monte Young. In one sense he could be loosely lumped in with Terry Riley, Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Lou Harrison, David Rosenboom, David Behrman and other minimalists of the late 60's and early 70's who explored alternate tunings and found inspiration in Indian, African or Malaysian music. Behrman, Rosenboom and Hassell all played major roles in the realization of Terry Riley's milestone "In C" recording from 1968. - Malcolm INDEX OF LP and CD RELEASES Major releases and collaborations: 1977 VERNAL EQUINOX 1978 EARTHQUAKE ISLAND 1980 (WITH BRIAN ENO) FOURTH WORLD, VOLUME 1: POSSIBLE MUSICS 1981 (WITH BRIAN ENO) FOURTH WORLD, VOLUME 2: DREAM THEORY IN MALAYA 1982 (VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION) MUSIC AND RHYTHM 1983 AKA > DARBARI < JAVA (MAGIC REALISM) 1986 POWER SPOT 1987 THE SURGEON OF THE NIGHT SKY RESTORES DEAD THINGS BY THE POWER OF SOUND 1987 (VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION) MYTHS 3: LA NOUVELLE SERENITE 1989 JON HASSELL / FARAFINA - FLASH OF THE SPIRIT 1990 CITY: WORKS OF FICTION 1990 (12-INCH EP) VOICEPRINT (BLIND FROM THE FACTS) (4 VERSIONS)/STREETFAXX 1990? (12-INCH EP) JON HASSELL/808 STATE - VOICEPRINT (3 song version) 1993 (CD) JON HASSELL VS 808 STATE: VOICEPRINT (4 or 5 versions?) Other collaborations, guest appearances and session work: 1968 TERRY RILEY - IN C 1973 LA MONTE YOUNG - DREAM HOUSE 78'17" 1980 THE TALKING HEADS - REMAIN IN LIGHT 1982 BRIAN ENO - ONLAND (AMBIENT 4) 1984 DAVID SYLVIAN - BRILLIANT TREES 1985 DAVID SYLVIAN - WORDS WITH THE SHAMAN CD-Single/12" EP 1985 PETER GABRIEL - BIRDY (SOUNDTRACK) 1987 LOYD COLE AND THE COMMOTIONS - MAINSTREAM 1989 PETER GABRIEL - PASSION 1989 TEARS FOR FEARS - THE SEEDS OF LOVE 1991 LES NOUVELLES POLYPHONIES CORSES 1992 MARC BEACCO - THE CROCODILE SMILE COMPLETE LIST OF KNOWN RECORDINGS WITH LABELS, MUSICIANS & TRACK TITLES: For some releases I may be lacking full information on musicians and track listings. If you can offer any assistance in filling in the gaps please do. JON HASSELL VERNAL EQUINOX 1977 US LOVELY MUSIC LML 1021 (LP) 1978? LOVELY MUSIC LCD 1021 (CD) 1) Toucan Ocean 3:50 2) Viva Shona 7:03 3) Hex 6:23 4) Blues Nile 9:54 5) Vernal Equinox 21:58 6) Caracas Night September 11, 1975 2:11 Jon Hassell - trumpet, Fender Rhodes Piano ("altered" by Buchla and Arp Synthesizers, and specially tuned) Nana Vasconcelos - congas, shakers, ocean,talking drum, bells, tropical birds David Rosenboom - mbira, rattles, tabla, dumbek Miguel Frasconi - claves, bells Nicolas Kilbourn - talking drum, mbira William Winant - kanjira, rattles Drone - Serge Synthesizer, Motorola Scalatron Night Creatures of Altamira Perrasita - distant barking +-+- JON HASSELL EARTHQUAKE ISLAND 1978 US TOMATO TOM 7019 (LP) TOMATO 269612 (CD) 1) Voodoo Wind 9:29 2) Cobra Moon 4:49 3) Sundown Dance 4:43 4) Earthquake Island 10:07 5) Tribal Secret 3:44 6) Balia 4:32 7) Adios Saturn 1:52 Jon Hassell - trumpet, Arpstrings, Arp, Polymoog Nana Vasconcelos - drums, tabla, percussion, voice, cuica, congas, berimbau, handclaps Miroslav Vitous - bass Claudio Faereira - guitars, bass, handclaps Ricardo Silveira - guitar Badal Roy - tabla Dom Um Romao - percussion Clarice Taylor - vocals Liner notes to EARTHQUAKE ISLAND: JH was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned degrees in music at teh Eastman School of Music in Rochester and at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Europe. In the mid-sixties he performed and recorded with LaMonte Young and Terry Riley. He also began composing his own work, developing a collection of plans for "sound monumemnts" called the Landmusic Series. One of these was 'Solid State', an electronic work which combined the aestheitc of minimalism with the notion of the sculptural presence of sound; a tuned mass of sound surrounded the audience with vibrational forms evoking the imperceptible shift of sand dunes. Since 1972 Hassell has studied classical Indian music of the Kirani tradition with the great vocal master Pandit Pran Nath. Hassell adapted vocal techniques to the trumpet and developed a new style of playing which forms the basis of teh musical setting he describes as "Fourth World - a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques." Vernal Equinox, released in 1978 by Lovely music, is considered to be Hassell's frist "Fourth World" work. Hassell integrated his Kirani style trumpet with electronic effects and with subtley shifting synthesizer drones similar to those of ocean and birds and simple, evocotive rhythhm tracks. (I think this is not the complete liner notes, I need to check.) +-+- JON HASSELL (WITH ENO) FOURTH WORLD, VOLUME 1: POSSIBLE MUSICS 1980 UK EDITIONS EG EGED 7 1) Chemistry 6:50 2) Delta Rain Dream 3:26 3) Griot (over "Contagious Music") 4:00 4) Ba-Benzele 6:15 5) Rising Thermal 14 degrees 16' N; 32 degrees 28' E 3:05 6) Charm (over "Burindi Cloud") 21:29 Jon Hassell - trumpet, prophet 5 touches (2), Arp loops (6),"Aular" loop (5) Brian Eno - background cloud guitars (2), prophet 5 "Starlight" background (4) high altitude prophet (5), rare minimoog & treatments (6) Percy Jones - bass (1) Nana Vasconcelos - ghatam (1,6), low congas (2), congas (4), loop drum (6) Ayibe Deing - ghatam (1), low congas (2), congas (6) Michael Brook - bass (3) Paul Fitzgerald - electronics (3) Jerome Harris - bass (4) Night Creatures of Altamira - (5) Gordon Philips, Andrew Tomar, Tina Pearson - handclaps (3) +-+- JON HASSELL (WITH ENO) FOURTH WORLD, VOLUME TWO: DREAM THEORY IN MALAYA 1981 US EDITIONS EG EGM 114 1) Chor Moire 2:21 2) Courage 3:38 3) Dream Theory 5:15 4) Datu Bintung at Jelong 7:05 5) Malay 10:12 6) These Times... 2:53 7) Gift of Fire 5:01 Jon Hassell - trumpet, pottery drums (5,7) Prophet 5, (4), bowl gongs (4), mix (2,7) Brian Eno - drums (2,3), bowl gongs & bells (5,6), mix (1,3,5,6) Michael Brook - bass (2,3) Miguel Frasconi - bowl gongs (5) Walter DeMaia - distant drum (2) Daniel Lanois - mix (4) All compositions by Jon Hassell. Produced by Jon Hassell. Liner notes by Jon Hassell: DREAM THEORY IN MALAYA is titled after a paper by visionary anthropologist, Kilton Stewart, who in 1935 visited a remarkable highland tribe of Malayan aborigines, the Senoi, whose happiness and well-being were linked to their morning custom of family dream-telling - where a child's fearful dream of falling was praised as a gift to learn to fly the next night and where a dream-song or dance was taught to a neighboring tribe to create a common bond beyond differences of custom. The Semelai are another tribe not far from the Senoi but who live in the largest swamp area of Malaya. A recorded fragment of their joy-filled watersplash rhythm was re-structured and became the generating force for the composition, Malaya, as well as providing a thematic guide for the entire recording. +-+- MUSIC AND RHYTHM (WOMAD?) (COMPILATION OF VARIOUS ARTISTS) 1982 UK WEA K 68045 2-LP set which includes Hassell's 'Ba benzele' (4.46) Jon Hassell - trumpet Brian Eno - synth, treatments Michael Brook - mbira Ayib Dieng - talking drum Recorded at Ontario College of Art, Toronto, November 14, 1981 +-+- JON HASSELL AKA > DARBARI < JAVA (MAGIC REALISM) 1983 US EDITIONS EG EGED 31 1) Empire i ii iii iv v 2) Darbari Extension i ii Jon Hassell - trumpet, keyed voices and instruments, mixing and treatments Dan Lanois - engineering, mixing and treatments Abdou Mboup - drums All compositions by Jon Hassell, except for EMPIRE II by Hassell/Lanois. Produced by Jon Hassell with Dan Lanois. Liner notes by Jon Hassell: MAGIC REALISM * Like the video technique of "keying in" where any background may be electronically inserted or deleted independently of foreground, the ability to bring the actual sound of musics of various epochs and geographical origins all together in the same compositional frame marks a unique point in history. * A trumpet, branched into a chorus of trumpets by computer, traces the motifs of the Indian raga DARBARI over Senegalese drumming recorded in Paris and a background mosaic of frozen moments from an exotic Hollywood orchestration of the 1950's (a sonic texture like a "Mona Lisa" which, in close up, reveals itself to be made up of tiny reproductions of the Taj Mahal), while the ancient call of an AKA pygmy voice in the Central African Rainforest - transposed to move in sequences of chords unheard of until the 20th century - rises and falls among gamelan-like cascades, multiplications of a single "digital snapshot" of a traditional instrument played on the Indonesian island of JAVA, on the other side of the world. * Music which is to this degree self-referential, in which larger parts are related to and/or generated from smaller parts, shares certain qualities with "white" classical music of the past. AKA/DARBARI/JAVA is a proposal for a "coffee-colored" classical music of the future - both in terms of the adoption of entirely new modes of structural organization (as might be suggested by the computer ability to re-arrange, dot-by-dot, a sound or video image) and in terms of the expansion of the "allowable" musical vocabulary in which one may speak this structure - leaving behind the ascetic face which Eurocentric tradition has come to associate with serious expression. +-+- JON HASSELL POWER SPOT 1986 GERMANY ECM 1327 1) Power Spot 7:07 2) Passage D.E. 5:25 3) Solaire 6:49 4) Miracle Steps 4:21 5) Wing Melodies 7:33 6) The Elephant and the Orchid 11:08 7) Air 5:20 Produced and Engineered by Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois. All composed by Jon Hassell. Recorded December 1984 and October 1983 at Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton Ontario, Canada. Jon Hassell - trumpet J.A. Deane - acoustic and electronic percussion, alto flute Jean-Phillipe Rykiel - electronic keyboards (facsimile bass, percussion, strings, etc.) Richard Horowitz - electronic keyboards (1,2,6) Brian Eno - electric bass (3,5) Michael Brook - guitar, electronic treatments (1,2) Richard Armin & Paul Armin - RAAD electro-acoustic strings (2,4) Miguel Frasconi - flute (7) +-+- JON HASSELL THE SURGEON OF THE NIGHT SKY RESTORES DEAD THINGS BY THE POWER OF SOUND 1987 US CAPITOL/INTUITION C1-46880 1) Ravinia/Vancouver 20.53 2) Paris 1 5:46 3) Hamburg 7:07 4) Brussels 10:54 5) Paris II 8:39 (track listing for european release may shift 1st track to follow Paris II) Jon Hassell - trumpet, keyboards J.A. Deane - electric and acoustic percussion Jean-Phillipe Rykiel - synthesizers (2-5) Richard Horowitz - synthesizer (1) Michael Brook - guitar (2-5) +-+- MYTHS 3: LA NOUVELLE SERENITE (COMPILATION WITH JON HASSELL, HAROLD BUDD, GAVIN BRYARS) 1987 HOL/BEL SUB ROSA SUB 33003-5 Map of Dusk(10'50) Jon Hassell: trumpet, el. kbds. J.A.Deane: electro-perc., digital kbds. recorded on the Day of Winter Solstice, 1985, N.Y. Map of Dusk(10'50) this track also appears on a CD-sampler of the Myths series +-+- JON HASSELL / FARAFINA FLASH OF THE SPIRIT 1989 US CAPITOL/INTUITION CDP 7 91186 2 EMI-Intuition IC 066 7 91186-1 1) Flash of the spirit (Laughter) (5.44) 2) Night moves (Fear) (2.23) 3) Air afrique (Wind) (3.59) 4) Out pours (Kongo) blue (Prayer) (7.10) 5) Kaboo (Play) (2.52) 6) (Like) Warriors everywhere (Courage) (4.43) 7) Dreamworld (Dance) (4.52) (-1) 8) Tales of the near future (Clairvoyance) (4.17) 9) A vampire dances (Symmetrie) (4.00) 10) Masque (Strength) (11.43) Jon Hassell(tp,k) J.A.Deane(synt-perc) Mahama Konate(balafon) Paco Ye(djembe) Soungalo Coulibaly(vcl,fl,perc) Tiawara Keita(tama,soucou) Beh Palm,Seydou Ouattara(bara-drum) Baba Diarra(balafon,perc) Souleyname Sanou(shekere) Daniel Schwartz(el-b-1) Recorded at Media Sound Studios, New York City, August 1987 Overdubs & mixing at the Wilderness Studio, Woodbridge, UK, September/October 1987 & February 1988 Produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois & Jon Hassell +-+- JON HASSELL CITY: WORKS OF FICTION 1990 US OPAL/WARNER BROTHERS 9 26153-2 Jon Hassell - trumpet, keyboards Gregg Arreguin - guitar Jeff Rona - keyboards, sampled percussion Adam Rudolph - acoustic and sampled percussion Daniel Schwartz - bass 1) Voiceprint (Blind From The Facts) 5:46 2) Pagan 6:26 3) Mombassa 8:03 4) Tikal 3:06 5) In The City Of Red Dust 5:37 6) Rain 6:28 7) Ba-Ya 6:02 8) Warriors 9:22 9) Out Of Adedara 5:07 +-+- JON HASSELL (12-INCH) VOICEPRINT (BLIND FROM THE FACTS) (4 VERSIONS)/STREETFAXX (PROMO) 1990 US OPAL/WARNER BROTHERS PRO-A-4301 "Promotion Only -- Not for Sale" (33.3 rpm) 1) Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) (808 Mix One) 6:37 2) Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) (Radio Mix) 4:36 - 3) Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) (808 Mix Two -- Latin in It Mix) 4:42 4) Streetfaxx 3:57 5) Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) (LP Version) 4:42 "Streetfaxx" by Jon Hassell "Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts)" by Hassell and Jeff Rona Produced by Jon Hassell Remix by 808 State Edits and Engineering: Massey, Executive Producer: Kevin Laffey +-+- JON HASSELL/808 State (12") Voiceprint 3 song version 1990? UK Land Records LANDT03 1) Voiceprint (808 Mix Two -- Latin in It Mix) 2) Voiceprint (808 Mix One) - 3) Voiceprint (Blind from the Facts) side A: Produced by Hassell, Remix by 808 State, Engineering: Massey side B: Produced by Jon Hassell Art: Cipher Design, Photo: Dennis Keeley +-+- JON HASSELL vs 808 State: Voiceprint (All Saints ASCD 17; 1993) contains all remixes from the 12" release plus an extra track COMPILATION APPEARANCES: The items listed blew are all lifted from other releases and are not unique in matrial or mixes. BRIAN ENO "SELECTED PIECES FROM THE EDITIONS EG LIBRARY" Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Delta rain dream (EG Records EGED 7) 7" EP. "ANGELS IN THE ARCHITECTURE" EG Records EGED 47 Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Delta rain dream (EG Records EGED 7) p. 1985 "CASTAWAY" EMI EMC 3529 Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Chemistry (EG Records EGED 7) Soundtrack LP, p. 1987. "FIRST EDITION" EG Records EGED 15 Jon Hassell: Courage (EG Records EGED 13) Comment: p. 1982 MYTHS ??? COMPILATION FROM THE "MYTHS" SERIES, on SUB ROSA Jon Hassell: Map of Dusk "AI CONFINI/INTERZONE" (New Tone Records NT 6716-2; Italy 1993) contains contributions by St. Reich, J.Hassell,M.Nyman, Peter Gordon, Wim Mertens,The Durutti Column, Harmonia Ensemble,Bebo Baldan, Antinomia, Eddy De Fanti, Arturo Stalteri, Alessandro Pizzin. It is a 'collaboration of unissued, or rare tracks of artists active in the New Music field in Europe, America and Italy'. Jon Hassell also performs on, or was involved as noted: TERRY RILEY - IN C 1968 US COLUMBIA MS 7178 Jon Hassell plays trumpet on sides 1 and 2. +-+- LA MONTE YOUNG - DREAM HOUSE 78'17" 1973 FR SHANDAR 83.510 Jon Hassell is on one side only. +-+- THE TALKING HEADS - REMAIN IN LIGHT 1980 US SIRE SRK 6095 David Byrne(vcl,g,k)Jerry Harrison(g,bg,k,perc)Tina Weymouth(bg,k, perc)Chris Frantz(k,d,perc)Brian Eno(k,bg,perc,vcl)Adrian Belew(g) Jose Rossy,Robert Palmer(perc)Nona Hendrix(vcl) Jon Hassell(tp) Houses in motion (4.30) Basic tracks recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas, July & August 1980 Further recordings at Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, and Eldorado Studios, Los Angeles Produced by Brain Eno +-+- BRIAN ENO - ONLAND (AMBIENT 4) 1982 US/UK EG EGED 20 On the track 'Shadow' (3:03) Produced by Brian Eno Brian Eno - synth, treatments, etc. Jon Hassell - trumpet +-+- DAVID SYLVIAN - BRILLIANT TREES 1984 three tracks co-composed for the music (DS-JH): "Weathered Wall", "Brilliant Trees", and (I forgot to write it down) +-+- DAVID SYLVIAN - WORDS WITH THE SHAMAN CD-Single/12" EP 1985 3 tracks maxi-single was released by Virgin in 1985. Some years later Virgin released it as a CD-single (CDT 23). It also includes some radio-voices by Holger Czukay and David's brother Steve Jansen on percussion. also co-composed DS-JH, featuring Percy Jones also issued as a limited-edition numbered cassette, with on side 2 "Steel Cathedrals" featuring Robert Fripp. +-+- PETER GABRIEL - BIRDY (SOUNDTRACK) 1985 US Geffen 24070 1985 UK Charisma CD 1167 "remixes" or instrumental versions from PG's fourth album +-+- LOYD COLE AND THE COMMOTIONS - MAINSTREAM 1987 UK POLYDOR 833 691 - 1 Jon Hassell plays on one song: BIG SNAKE +-+- PETER GABRIEL - PASSION (music for the film THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST) 1989 Real World LP 1 (LP) 1989 US GEFFEN 9 24206-2 (CD) Jon Hassell plays on the title track only. +-+- TEARS FOR FEARS - THE SEEDS OF LOVE 1989 FONTANA Jon Hassell plays on "Standing on the Corner of the Third World" and "Famous Last Words" (maybe these came out on singles?; JH can be heard alright on these songs, but still, he's on the background) +-+- TERRY RILEY - IN C 1989 US Celestial Harmonies 13026-2 performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra. Hassell was only involved in the mixing of this version (together with Eno and Terry Riley) The Shanghai Film Orchestra; Wang Yongji(cond) In C (28.24) Recorded in Shanghai, China, January 13, 1989 Mixed by Brian Eno, Jon Hassell and Terry Riley at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, March 1989 Produced by David Mingyue Liang -Note: Eno is not implicated in the other 2 tracks on this CD. +-+- KRONOS QUARTET - WHITE MAN SLEEPS 1987 US ELEKTRA-NONESUCH contains 'Pano da costa', a Hassell composition for string quartet. As far as I remember Hassell is, however, not personally involved in this record. +-+- LES NOUVELLES POLYPHONIES CORSES 1991 France Philips (Phonogram) 848515 - 2 performers include Hector Zazou, Jon Hassell and John Cale. It is an album of some singers from Corsica. > JH plays on 3 tracks, co-composes 2. also featured: Sakamoto, Manu Dibango. > > It has a subtitle: "avec Hector Zazou", but is not really a Zazou release. > It is actually folkloric singing from Corsica (might be compared to le Mystere > des Voix Bulgares: several voices a-capella, with strange harmonization > effects, ...) but with a backgroud (sometimes very present) by modern > musicians. +-+- MARC BEACCO: THE CROCODILE SMILE (Changes 513 416-2; France 1992) with Marc Beacco(vcl) Dominik Bertram(b) Bruce Grainger(bassoon) Jon Hassell(tp) Manu Katche(d) Didier Lockwood(vln) Martial Solal(p) Mike Stern(g) Steve Swallow(b) Toots Thielemans (harmonica) recorded in Paris 1991 LIVE RECORDINGS: I wouldn't really call these bootlegs because no one has pressed them on lp or cd or pirated profits off of these, but there are a few concert recordings of Jon Hassell that I'm aware of which are something that one might come across in collections of folks who trade live tapes: Ontario College of Art, 11/14/1981. Approximately 90 minutes. Jon Hassell live at the Ontario College of Art, 4/12/82 approximately 60 minutes, audience recording. Jon Hassell Sens, France May 28, 1983 60 Jon Hassell Rennes, France Feb. 3, 1988 90 Jon Hassell live at the World Financial Center (mixed by Eno?) New York City, 9/18/89. 90 minute audience recording. FM broadcast from the Moers Jazz Festival, Germany, May 1989 with the Farafinas. Approximately 40 minutes. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: JON HASSELL BIO, FROM 1969: Jon Hassell was born in 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. After studying both composition and trumpet at Eastman School of Music, he began work in electronic music at studios in New York, Milan and Cologne. He received a German Government Grant (1965-67) for study with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Henri Pousseur. While in Cologne he composed and heard performances of his 'Vibe Music', for two vibraphones and tape, and 'Scan', for ten stringed instruments and contact mikes. Returning to the U.S., Mr. Hassell was invited to become a Creative Associate in residence at the Center of the Creative and Performing Arts in Buffalo, New York, where, during 1967-68, he composed 'Blackboard Piece With Girls and Loops', for two girls and two pitch-producing blackboards, and 'Super Ball', for four players with handheld tape heads. Most recently, his attention has focused on a number of environments, objects, etc., whose principle features are acoustic (Maps 1 and 2), but whose presentation is outside the usual concert situation. These pieces have been presented at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo during the second Festival of the Arts and in the recent Experiments in Art and Technology show at the Brooklyn Museum. - from _Music of the avantgarde_ Volume 3, No. 1, Jun 1969 JON HASSELL BIO, FROM 1986: Hassell, Jon (b Memphis, TN, 22 March 1937) Composer and trumpeter. He was trained as a trumpeter and later studied composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Henri Pousseur in Cologne (1965-7) and with Rogers at the Eastman School (BM 1969, MM 1970). In the late 1960s he began performing with ensembles led by Terry Riley and La Monte Young, key figures in the emerging minimalist school. Hassell's early works reflect both his interests in advanced electronic composition and minimal music. In 'Solid State' (1969), a work which earned him an NEA grant in 1977, a mass of pitched sound surrounds an audience with "the vibrational forms evoking the . . . shifting of sand dunes" (Hassell). In 1972 Hassell began studying Indian classical music with the singer Pandit Pran Nath; by imitating his vocal style, Hassell developed a new technique for trumpet playing, creating a "curved" melodic line by controlling the pitch with his lips and removing or loosening the mouthpiece. He also processed these sounds electronically to produce other new effects. Continuing his interest in ethnic music, he began to mix and combine electronically various elements and idioms of different musics with his own trumpet playing. The final result was what Hassell called "Fourth World music," a unification of third-world musics with advanced techniques of Western electronic composition. By 1983 Hassell had released five recordings in this genre, working sometimes in collaboration with the rock performer Brian Eno. WORKS Stage: Sullia strada (music theater, after J. Kerouac: On The Road), collaboration with M. Criminali, 1982, Venice, May 1982 Other works: Music for Vibraphones, 1965; Blackboard Piece with Girls and Loops, 2 girls, 2 pitch-producing blackboards, 1968; Goodbye Music, mixed media, 1969; Map nos. 1-2, hand-held magnetic playback heads, 1969; Solid State, 2 Synth, 1969; Superball, 4 players with hand-held magnetic tape heads, 1969; Landscape Series, mixed media, 1969-72 - Charles Passy, from _The New Grove Dictionary of American Music_ 1986 Also, JH did a String quartet, Pano de Costa, commissioned by Kronos. BIBLIOGRAPHY Jon Hassell bio: _Music of the avantgarde_ Volume 3, No. 1, Jun 1969 L. Stathis: "Jon Hassell, Fourth World Musician," Future, xxiv (Feb 1981), 26 R. Palmer: "An Explorer on Music's Borderlands," New York Times (20 Nov 1981) J. Sullivan: "In Search of Future Music," Boston Globe (2 Dec 1982) G. O'Brien: "Jon Hassell," Interview, xii/5 (1982), 66 R. Palmer: "Jon Hassell seeks Balance," New York Times (11 May 1983) C. Passy: Jon Hassell bio, _The New Grove Dictionary of American Music_ 1986 NOTES AND COMMENTS: Associates: Many of the performers who have recorded with Jon Hassell have prolific recording careers of their own. I won't go into Eno or Peter Gabriel much, except to strongly recommend Gabriel's Passion as a wonderful release that explores a lot of world music. Nana Vasconcelos is a master percussionist with at least a couple of releases out; I'm fond of RAIN DANCES?, which is not too far in sound from Hassell's EARTHQUAKE ISLAND. Nana has also done some interesting duets with guitarist Egberto Gismonti. Jean-Phillipe Rykiel has worked with Cyrille Verdeaux of Clearlight, and I've also seen his name on a release by a French- African musician whose name I can't recall. J.A. Deane has some solo material on a cd on EAR-RATIONAL (a german label) which also has music by Art Zoyd and Jeff Greinke. Jeff Greinke has never worked with Hassell (yet), but in my opinion deserves a brief mention here his because lps and cds are often in a neighborhood that sounds very close to Hassell or Eno, and I'd strongly recommend hearing any of Greinke's music, especially his more recent works like CHANGING SKIES or his new one on Silent records (I forget the title). * J.-P. Rykiel has made a solo record in France in the early eighties. Unfortunately I don't have any further information on this one. Possible sources of more information about or contact with Jon Hassell might be found through Opal or Sub Rosa: Opal Information, P.O. 141, Leigh-On-Sea, Essex, England Sub Rosa, P.O. Box 808, 1000 Brussels, Belgium This discography was compiled by Malcolm Humes. Many thanks are due to Eric Rutten, Johann Haidenbauer, ToreM and a couple of other folks on Usenet who contributed information but whose names I've lost. Additions, corrections or comments? >>>--> malcolm@wrs.com =========== END OF FILE =========== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------