Sulla Strada by Jon Hassell

"The style of music which I call "Fourth World" is a continual exploration of ways in which exotic musics from the tribal cultures of the Southern hemisphere might be fused with the technological possibilities of the Western World (primitive/future). It is an attempt to create music which dissolves the dichotomy between the structural and the sensual (classical and popular in western terms).

The music for Sulla Strada is partially inspired by ceremonial music of the Beti and Bemileke of Cameroon. This is blended with other compositional and less geographically-specific elements in an attempt to create a kind of musical scenery which is not entirely "primitive", not entirely "future" but someplace impossible to locate either chronologically or geographically. In the stage production one musical section gradually evolves into another over long stretches of time.

The aim is to create a dense, ritualized sound atmosphere in which the stage action might take place and be formed within, in the same way that the density of water can be said to form the movements of a swimmer."

- Jon Hassell, April 1992, Florence

Jon Hassell pioneered a musical ethos he dubbed 'Fourth World', a mixture of traditional Indian Vocal style - which Hassell adapted for the trumpet - and advanced electronic techniques, a style which manifested itself in his seminal first album 'Vernal Equinox'. His career since then has seen many influential solo works as well as collaborations with Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, amongst others.

jonhassell.com
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