Jon Hassell, International Man of Mystery

Unsilence with host Phil Kline airs Mondays at 7 pm on New Sounds Radio. Repeats throughout the week, including Wednesdays at 11 am and Sundays at 9 pm.

The first time I heard Jon Hassell’s music, there were maybe six of us on the dance floor of a club after closing time. We had no idea what this new record was or what kind of music it was, but it had us floating and spinning like dervishes in a trance. It was "Charm" from Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics, the landmark collaboration between Brian Eno and a top-billed trumpet player none of us had ever heard of.

Hassell had been around, studied at Eastman, Stockhausen’s Cologne Course, then SUNY Buffalo, played with La Monte Young’s Theater of Eternal Music, played in the first recording of Terry Riley’s In C, and traveled to India with Young and Riley to study with Pandit Pran Nath. When Eno heard him play he immediately asked if they could work together. The result was a record that charted a course into the future, a blend of ambience and dance energy, traditional world styles and electronics.

In recent years, Hassell has dropped a gem every five years or so, refreshing us with Listening to Pictures in June. After the slow dreams of Fascinoma, and Last Night the Moon Came Down, the new work hits with a jolt of energy, yet maintains the trademark cool. And speaking of cool, there is another very important coordinate here: Miles Davis. Hassell frequently names him as an inspiration, both as player and leader. So we’ll hear Miles and some guys named Hancock, Corea, Shorter, Holland, Zawinul, McLaughlin, and Williams, conjuring up In a Silent Way, another track that changed everything.

All that, with some Haydn-via-Stockhausen, and a sprig of Cage, on this week’s Unsilence.