Jon Hassel: The Surgeon Of The Nightsky [Vinyl 1LP]

Contemporary Jazz / Indie Jazz
premiera polska: 2024-03-22
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Singlefoldowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * *
Jon Hassell, pionier fuzji jazzu i eksperymentalnej elektroniki w 60-tych latach studiował u samego Karlheinza Stockhausena. Podczas swojej kariery współpracował z członkami krautrockowego zespołu Can, Brianem Eno, Kronos Quartet, ale także z gigantami minimal music - La Monte Youngiem i Terry'm Riley'em. Do swoich nagrań zapraszali go David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, czy Bono. Jego etnomuzykologiczne zainteresowania w znaczący sposób poszerzyły jego artystyczny język, szczególnie w warstwie polirytmicznej.
Wyprodukowany przez Briana Eno album "The Surgeon Of The Nightsky Restores Dead Things By The Power Of Sound" należy do jego najlepszych dzieł. Hassell zachwyca tutaj rewelacyjną formą i nieprzeciętnymi możliwościami.
Jon Hassell uwodzi słuchacza cudowną, ciepłą barwą, a technikę ma nieskazitelną. I co ważne, potrafi to pokazać. Sam wdzięk i delikatność („O the pleasure my soul is possessing”), a kiedy indziej zadziorny wigor („Tyrant, now no more we dread thee”). Wizjonerska wyobraźnia, doskonałe wyczucie potencjału zespołu i dramaturgiczny talent dają tutaj doskonały efekt. Przestrzenna muzyka, modulowana elektronicznie trąbka, tajemniczość i liryzm stały się odtąd jego znakiem rozpoznawczym.
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allmusic.com
"Raga" trumpeter Jon Hassell's The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound utilizes the core ensemble of players previously heard on Power Spot, but with quite different results. Surgeon of the Nightsky is considerably more ambient and less rhythmically animated than its predecessor. Each of the five tracks is named after a city, a theme Hassell would further explore in the subsequent City: Works of Fiction. The tracks of Surgeon of the Nightsky melt seamlessly into one another, forming an unbroken arc that spans the entire album. The opening "Ravinia/Vancouver" is a two-part form. "Ravinia" opens with a grooving bassline and hovering, synthesized strings. From his harmonized trumpet, Hassell conjures shapely melodies that gradually return transformed as loops, creating a polyrhythmic grid that elicits his further melodic commentary. "Ravinia" dissolves almost imperceptibly into "Vancouver," which is based on a recurring, 22-beat rhythmic cycle in the electronic percussion and a two-chord bass drone. With the strings still floating in the background, Hassell's harmonized trumpet reshapes melodic fragments from "Ravinia." Serenity prevails as "Vancouver gently trails away. For Hassell, a unique European ambience flavors the relatively brief "Paris I." Detached percussion patterns never fully coalesce, cloudy synthesizer tones drift past as the bassline from "Ravinia" emerges and then disappears. Throughout, a collage of synthesizers veils Hassell's intermittent trumpeting. Hassell's horn resounds in "Hamburg"; trumpet choirs and pulsing bass and percussion lure his echo-laden melodies out of hiding. "Brussels" revisits themes from "Charm (Over 'Burundi Cloud')," one of Hassell's most compelling recordings. "Brussels" hints at the sparse, haunting beauty of "Charm," but is burdened by the overabundant synthesizers. "Paris II" opens with Hassell's remarkably flute-like sound swirling in long delay lines. Quotes from his "Chor Moiré" ripple across the luminous pastel surfaces. Hassell's patient, breathy vocalisms bring the album to a quiet closing. Steeped in an ethereal cool, Surgeon of the Nightsky reflects Hassell's unique brand of minimalism. Rarely does the ensemble reach the intensity level of "Charm" or Power Spot; perhaps that is the point. The minimal textures and timbres are generally lucid and effective, but have a static sameness that can enthrall or unnerve. One wonders if a more compelling ensemble interaction -- perhaps with an acoustic string section and indigenous percussion -- could have lifted this material to even greater heights.
by Mark Kirschenmann

Editor's info:
The renowned and widely acclaimed music label INTUITION, well known since the 1980s, is proud to announce the release of its most important and successful back-catalogue titles on vinyl under the name "INTUITION Master Series". Albums by bands and artists such as Steps Ahead, Jon Hassell, Eddie Palmieri, Oregon, Stephan Micus, Don Cherry, Abdullah Ibrahim, Barbara Thompson, Marilyn Mazur, Joe Zawinul, Maceo Parker, Charlie Mariano, Dino Saluzzi, Joey Baron, Lounge Lizards have all been lavishly remastered and will now be re-released and presented as a high-quality package on vinyl (180-gram pressing). Special albums not previously released by INTUITION will also be given a home in the series, albums such as "Flamma Flamma" by Nicholas Lens or "Say Yes" by Iyeoka.

The "INTUITION Master Series" starts with Jon Hassell's legendary album "The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound”.

The American trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Hassell, who died in 2021, was an international legend despite never having managed a popular breakthrough, mainly due to the fact that he almost never gave himself to the public. Jon Hassell was a musical visionary and pioneer, one who was inspired by ambient sounds and new music. He appreciated the music of avant-gardists such as Stockhausen, in whose Cologne school he also studied. He came into contact with Terry Riley and his minimalistic music early on and played on his first albums. Hassell was also a musically driven person, someone who had to get to the bottom of styles. Thus, he was intensively involved with Far Eastern, but especially Indian music. Using the ingredients he learned, he created a completely new way of playing on and with the trumpet. He created language-like modulated air currents flowing through the instrument to produce seemingly alien, microtonal sounds.

He combined this technique with ethnic polyrhythms, electronic alienation, soundscapes and jazz to create his own style, which he called "Fourth World". "We have this huge difference between the technically advanced 'northern' countries (First World) and the underdeveloped 'southern' countries (Third World). And clearly the future is going to develop as a hybrid, a mixture of the two. ‘Fourth World Music' means combining the best of the old with the best of the new. But don't forget the old. Don't overlook the value of tradition." With this kind of music, he significantly influenced numerous emerging styles such as world music, nujazz or ambient. It is no mistake to say that without Hassell's ideas, these types of music would have taken a very different course. The list of influenced musicians and producers is long, starting with Brian Eno, who further developed his ambient concept as well as the multi-rhythmic approach after working with him. Eno passed the latter on to David Byrne (Talking Heads).

The melancholic solo works of David Sylvian were created after a joint project (Brilliant Trees). Hassell also appears on Peter Gabriel's masterpiece "The Last Temptation of Christ", and Gabriel admits that it was through this work that he really developed his own world music concept. In nujazz, too, he has decisively influenced musicians like Nils Petter Molvaer or Erik Truffaz. Without Hassell's pioneering deeds, legendary albums like "Khmer" would probably not have existed.

Hassell's influence on the music world cannot be overestimated, even if he himself was always unimpressed by the praise. "It's the invisible things that buzz around us. You just have to bring them to light and make them visible." INTUITION's 1987 “The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound” is undoubtedly one of his best works and we are proud to have it included in the catalogue. In a tried and tested association with Brian Eno (as producer), his first completely live-recorded album was released at that time. The individual pieces, which were recorded in Paris, Vancouver, Hamburg and Brussels, reflect the special atmosphere that made every (rare) Jon Hassell concert something extraordinary. The extremely delicate preparation and post-processing of the live material in the studio mix also makes it clear to the listener what subtle means Jon Hassell used to captivate his audience. In interaction with the audience, Hassell opens a window to the understanding of a music whose pulse and mood can be heard and perceived simultaneously in New York, Rangoon, Maracaibo, Paris, Palembang or Cologne. This album is an absolute work of sound-art.., or as one listener once put it: "An album with almost tender percussion and floating, artfully sprinkled synthesizer sounds and accompanied by an electronically alienated trumpet that is mysteriously bizarre and at the same time unspeakably gentle and soft - somehow beyond space and time."

muzycy:
Jon Hassell: trumpet, keyboards
J.A.Deane: el. and ac. percussion
Jean-Philippe Rykiel: synth
Richard Horovitz: synth
Michael Brock: guitar

utwory:
A1. Ravinia/Vancouver [20:53]
A2. Paris I [5:46]
B1. Hamburg [7:07]
B2. Brussels [10:54]
B3. Paris II [8:40]

total time - 53:36
wydano: 13-11-2023 (1992)
nagrano: 1985, 1986, 1987
more info: www.intuition-music.com