It's always odd to hear someone like Jon Hassell on a live recording. The sounds the late trumpeter made were so otherworldly that someone like me thinks of him of being some sort of recluse who only showed up to add flavor to albums from Brian Eno and David Sylvian before disappearing into the woods or something. What's surprising too is how invigorating this live album is, even as it provides familiar pleasures that Hassell fans will appreciate.
Music is Invisible: Pentimento Volume Three is the record of a live performance in London in 2015. It's elegant in its presentation, Hassell's horn fitting in nicely with work from Rick Cox and John von Seggern. The trio approaches these compositions in such a way that "Blue Ba-Ya" is a little loose, like jazz fusion only stretched out maybe? "Broadway Boogie-Woogie" is even better with Hassell's horn existing in a landscape of faint percussion and synths and samples. It's still as atmospheric as Jon's more famous compositions, but somehow a little more immediate in its pleasures. The same could be said about all of this record, frankly, and fans of anything Jon Hassell played on will likely find at least portions of this very enjoyable.
Music is Invisible: Pentimento Volume Three by Jon Hassell is out now via Ndeya.
[Photo: Ndeya]