Jon Hassell is a popular American musician and composer. An American avant-garde composer, he became famous primarily for developing the concept of "fourth world" music. The formation of the composer was strongly influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as the Indian performer Pandit Pran Nath.
Childhood and youth Jon Hassell
He was born March 22, 1937, in the town of Memphis. The boy was brought up in an ordinary family. The head of the family played the cornet and trumpet a little. When John grew up, he began to "torment" his father's instruments. Later, the usual hobby grew into something more. John locked himself in the bathroom and tried to play tunes he had heard earlier on the trumpet.
He later took up the study of classical music in New York and Washington. The training led to a negative result - John almost gave up his dream of becoming a musician.
He adored classical music, and thought about going to Europe to learn from the best teachers in the world. Having accumulated funds, he fulfilled his dream. Hassel got into the class of Karlheinz Stockhausen. The guy was enrolled in one of the most unpredictable music teachers. He paid special attention to electronic and noise pieces of music.
“The lessons that the teacher instructed me to complete were wonderful. For example, once, he asked me to record the radio interference that came from the receiver with notes. I liked his unconventional approach to music and teaching. Professionalism, as well as originality, were the features of Karlheinz.
He soon returned to the United States of America. Jon Hassell significantly expand the audience of acquaintances. He realized that in his homeland there are enough madmen who dream of making an impulse on the other side of music.
Creative way
Life brought the gifted musician to LaMonte Young, and then to Terry Riley, who had just finished working on the musical composition In C. John participated in the recording of the first version of the composition. By the way, it is still considered a perfect example of minimalism in music.
In the early 70s, he expanded his musical horizons. Hassela began to be attracted to the Indian repertoire. During this period of time, a certain Pandit Pran Nath, who arrived in the USA due to the requests of LaMonte Young, became an authority for the musician.
Nath made two things clear to the musician. Vocals are the foundation of the fundamentals, the vibration that is hidden in every sound. He also realized that the main thing is not the notes, but what is hidden between them.
John realized that after meeting Nath, he would have to learn the instrument again. From that moment on, he began to break stereotypes about the sound of the trumpet. He created his own sound, which allowed him to play an Indian raga on the trumpet. By the way, he never called his music jazz. But, this style enveloped the works of Hassell.
At the end of the 70s of the last century, the premiere of the artist's debut album took place. We are talking about the collection Vernal Equinox. It should be noted that the disc marked the beginning of the musical concept developed by him, which he later called the “fourth world”.
He often called his compositions as "a single primitive-futuristic sound that mixes the features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic technologies." The debut LP attracted the attention of Brian Eno (one of the founders of the ambient genre). In the early 80s, Jon Hassell and Eno released the record Possible Musics / Fourth World Vol. 1.
Interestingly, in different years he worked with D. Silvian, P. Gabriel, A. Difranco, I. Heep, the Tears for Fears team. Until recently, he composed musical works. Confirmation of this is the studio LP Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two), which was released in 2020. For a long life, he published 17 studio records.
Jon Hassell artist style
He coined the term "fourth world". John used electronic processing of his trumpet playing. Some critics have seen the influence of musician Miles Davis on the work. In particular, the use of electronics, modal harmony and restrained lyricism. Jon Hassell used keyboards, electric guitar and percussion. This mix made it possible to achieve hypnotic grooves.
Death of artist Jon Hassell
The composer and musician passed away on June 26, 2021. The death of the artist was reported by relatives:
“For a year, John battled the disease. He was gone this morning. He loved this life very much, so he fought to the end. He wanted to share more in music, philosophy and writing. This is a great loss not only for relatives and friends, but also for you, dear fans.”
