Jon Hassell

Jon Hassell was born on 22 March 1937, and passed away aged 84 on 26 June 2021. He was an influential figure who interconnected with a range of 20th century art and music: growing up going to juke joints and blues parties in post-WWII Memphis; studying under Stockhausen with Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt of Can; befriending Terry Riley and playing on the classic recording of “In C”; forming part of the Theatre Of Eternal Dream Music with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela; mentored in raga by Prandit Pran Nath; playing with David Rosenboom and Naná Vasconcelos on his first record; collaborating with Eno; playing on Remain In Light with Talking Heads; recording with Farafina, Ry Cooder, Leslie Winer, Juan Atkins and Moritz Von Oswald, Björk, amongst many others. A growing interest in the indigenous music of other cultures led to the invention of his ‘Fourth World’ blend of different styles, first heard on albums such as Vernal Equinox and Earthquake Island in the late-1970s. These caught the ear of Brian Eno, who collaborated with Hassell on the Possible Musics album. Further seminal recordings would follow, including Dream Theory In Malaya, Aka / Darbari / Java - Magic Realism, Fascinoma, and more. Hassell released seminal works up until his passing, including the groundbreaking 'Listening To Pictures' in 2018. In recent years he has been recognised as a key influence on a new wave of artists and composers including Oneohtrix Point Never, Huerco S and Visible Cloaks.