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Jon Hassell: Vernal Equinox
JON HASSELL
Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox, released in 1978 by Lovely Music, is considered to be Hassell’s first “Fourth World” work. Hassell integrated his Kirana style trumpet with electronic effects and with subtly shifting synthesizer drones similar to those of Solid State, adding the sounds of ocean and birds and simple, evocative rhythm tracks. Many more “Fourth World” recordings have followed Vernal Equinox: Earthquake Island (1979); Possible Musics/Fourth World Volume One (with Brian Eno, 1980); Dream Theory in Malaya/Fourth World Volume Two (1981); Aka-Darbari-Java/Magic Realism (1983); Power Spot (1986); The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound (1987).
Hassell’s string quartet, Pano de Costa, commissioned by Kronos, is recorded on their album White Man Sleeps. He has written the scores for several theater works, among them Magazzini Criminali’s production of Sulla Strada for the Venice Biennale, which won an “Ubu” for best music for a theatrical work in the 1982 season, and he collaborated with director Peter Sellars on a play by the Russian futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov entitled Zangezi, which was produced at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival.
Jon Hassell tours with his own ensemble, and he often works with musicians from other musical cultures, such as his recent collaboration in concert (for “Serious Fun” at Lincoln Center) with Farafina, the eight-member group of percussionists, singers and dancers from Burkina Faso. He has also collaborated with and performed on recordings by Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian and The Talking Heads.
Jon Hassell’s music has been recorded on Tomato Records, Editions E.G., ECM, Intuition-EMI, and Nonesuch/Elektra as well as on Lovely Music.
*Buchla Synthesizer alteration: David Rosenboom
†Arp Synthesizer alteration: Andy Jerison
Special Rhodes tuning: Larry Polansky
256 Hz pitch standard: Motorola Scalatron
Recording engineers (Toronto): Michael Brook, Andy Jerison, David Rosenboom
Recording engineer (New York): Rich LePage
Produced by Jon Hassell.
Recorded at the York University Electronic Media Studios (Toronto, Ontario), October/ November 1976.
Mixdown and additional recording:
Mastertone Recording Studios (New York), September/October 1977.
Digital editing and mastering by Allan Tucker, Foothill Productions, NYC.
Design: By Design
Published by Nyen Music (ASCAP).
CP1990 Lovely Music, Ltd.
LCD 1021 ADD
7-4529-51021-2-0
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