Fascinoma

Jon Hassell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 22, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Water Lily Acoustics
• ASIN: B00000J829
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,085 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hassell in acoustic mode, October 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fascinoma (Audio CD)

This album has been a long time coming. Since Hassell's last accessible studio album with Bluescreen (Dressing For Pleasure 1994), Hassell has spent a considerable amount of time guesting on a lot of other people's albums, everyone from Ani di Franco, to Seal, Baaba Maal, Holly Cole, KD Lang and much more. These days as well, his name seems to crop up on more than the occasional film scores eg Trespass , The End Of Violence, Primary Colors. On top of this he won an Emmy for the theme music for The Practise awhile back. He is also playing a part in the new Wim Wenders film Million Dollar Hotel. Also a book based on Fourth World ideology / concepts has been finished but at time of writing this had not been published. For Hassell this is in ways a voyage of rediscovery, hearing the ghosts of the past which in turn would go on to make him what he is today, a modern day musical shaman. He is also making the connections between these musics and his own fourth world soundings. Hassell says that this album is about immersing oneself into the beauty that is sound. Let me say outright that this is Hassell's finest in a long time. This album is about textures, tones, emotion, warmth, more so than a lot of Hassell I have heard over the years. Even though he is in acoustic mode, the 'sound' is instinctively Jon Hassell; the way he breathes, the trumpet sounding like a conch shell. At times you think you might be listening to great early Chet Baker, or even an introspective Miles Davis. So much care and thought has gone into this that I am in awe every time I hear it. Ronu Majumdar weaves his flute around Hassell's trumpet, creating a sense of light around Hassell's own sound chemistry. These two combined are pure magic. This is really what makes this particular release different to any other Hassell release, this sensation of lightness. The density of sound that is evident on the other releases is not present here, or maybe I'm not hearing it. I hear ragas, as well as phrasings from material which would turn up on Wim Wenders' The End Of Violence mixed in with Ellington. Jacky Terrasson I'm not all that familiar with. I think he used to play in bebop groups. Needless to say his nimble fingers do a damn fine job on this record, articulate and at times spectral. I don't really hear jazz as such when I listen to this, maybe the only piece that goes down this track for me is Poinciana with some of the phrasings, or maybe it's the way Terrasson plays those chords. Then you might hear something that reminds you of Satie or Ravel, before the piece slips into fourth world fusion mode again. Judge it for yourselves when you get the chance to hear it. For me, Hassell is a living treasure, one a few who consistantly releases interesting material. He dedicates this album to the late Pran Nath and his own father.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Outside Ambient, November 2, 2001

By 

A Music Lover (the seaside) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fascinoma (Audio CD)

The opening amazingly beautiful reading of "Nature Boy" is so stunning when Ronu Majumdar's flute begins it's circling run around Hassell's
solo trumpet. wow. we know we are in for something unique and amazing.

This is Hassell's first CD to include covers and as a fan, I welcome this as a trend. This CD is at once beautiful, odd, provocative, and
occasionally challenging. I suppose you could expect that with a meeting of Hassell, Cooder, Majumdar, and Terrasson.

Like most Water Lily cds, it's Recorded live to stereo master in that Santa Barbara seminary with all that fetishist tube gear as usual. Music like
this sums up the underlying vibe of Santa Barbara.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethereal wonder...music from a dreamscape, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fascinoma (Audio CD)

As a Jon Hassell fan, I either enjoy or devour his music. But this latest release is a real tour-de-force, an absolutely beautiful and stunning CD.

If you're familiar with Hassell's work, try to imagine an acoustic-edged version of his "Fourth World" musics...not quite 'Jon Hassell Unplugged', but more of a earthy and less-processed version of his earlier style.

If you haven't heard his work before, this CD reminds me a lot of "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis...superb trumpet work with insidious rhythms in the background.

This is Hassell's first work in 20 years that features tunes by others...but with his interpretation, you might not even recognize some of them.

This is a beautiful CD, hat's off to Jon Hassell and Ry Cooder (producer/player of/on the CD)