Jon Hassell

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. In the early 80s Jon Hassel made a name for himself by releasing recordings that mixed his odd Kiranic influenced trumpet melodies with ancient earthy poly-rhythms on the ghatan and congas. Although there was nothing trendy or shallow about Hassell's music, it came at the right time to ride a wave of world beat enthusiasm from the newly moneyed yuppie class who were also digging King Sunny Ade, Black Uhuru and Eno-Byrne's Bush of Ghosts album. In fact Hassell found himself playing a few of his unique solos on Eno and Byrne's highly acclaimed Talking Heads album, Remain in Light. Fast forward to 1994 and trip-hop and acid jazz are all the rage when who should appear with his first recording in four years? Since I found this CD in a DJ shop I was sure this was Hassell's shot at the new hip-hop flavored jazz that was dominating both the DJ/electronica and jazz scenes at the time.