Jon Hassell, trumpet player and electronic music composer, has died at age 84. Hassell pioneered the influential genre of music he dubbed "Fourth World," defined as a "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques."
Best known for his groundbreaking collaborative album with Brian Eno, titled "Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics," Hassell's early solo records including "Vernal Equinox" (1977), "Dream Theory in Malaya: Fourth World Volume Two" (1981), and "Power Spot" (1986) are absolutely essential listening. Listen below. A pillar of avant-garde and new music, Hassell also collaborated with the likes of Terry Riley, the Theatre of Eternal Music, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, and Carl Craig.
"If I had to name one over-riding principle in Jon's work it would be that of respect," Eno wrote in The Guardian in 2007. "He looks at the world in all its momentary and evanescent moods with respect, and this shows in his music. He sees dignity and beauty in all forms of the dance of life."
