Jon Hassell

The sound of Jon Hassell’s trumpet is instantly distinctive whether heard on his solo releases or his collaborations with Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, and many others over his four-decade career. Often transformed through the Memphis-born composer/musician’s mastery of microtonal shadings and pioneering use of electronic processing and effects, Hassell’s trumpet tone has a hazy, ghostly quality that perfectly suits his disregard for any boundaries between jazz, experimental, ambient, and classical music. His studies in serial composition and Indian classical music through the late ‘60s and ‘70s fostered a restless imagination and a creative wanderlust, qualities that led to the idiosyncratic fusion of global styles he established with Fourth World, Vol. 1 - Possible Musics, his 1980 album with Eno. After making key contributions to Talking Heads’ landmark Remain In Light the same year, Hassell worked with a diverse array of artists including Jackson Browne, k.d. lang, and Tears for Fears. The trumpeter’s own sonic explorations continued until his death in 2021.