Artist description Jack Hassall is the craftsman of eclectic persona strumming down the cosmic road of digital reverberation and subtle ambiance. His shimmering cascades of audio light reflect a pastel of rainbows. The sonic beauty and creative gleam of a master craftsman of music, mood and nuance. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Hassall's work reflects a multitude of influences that are fused into something that careens under the surface of an enormous deep dark green-blue ocean whilst gazing simultaneously at the pale blue lilac sky. Tunes like 'Fanfare' pulsate electronic groove with horn accents; 'E-thang' segues into counterpoint bass and clavinet with a sheen of ambiance strings and three chord progression hook. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 'Boogie Song' the genre flips to retro dance blues. Jack Hassall's blues roots are showcased in 'Au Revoir' and his acoustic guitar balladry coupled with female soul vox melodies minus lyrics. The harmonica singed FX laden track 'Blue Suede Shoes' is a dreamscape heavy dance beat of delays; The slide guitar majesty of 'Stella Blues' shines with reverberated expression. Jack Hassall is equally enthralling in a smooth jazz fusion mode via songs such as 'Taxi Dance Revisited' and 'Hyanis Rain' with its open air feel; As are cuts like 'Train To Nowhere' with its subtle nuance and the airy breeze of 'Mood Swing'. The scenic and classic effect of the electric guitar driven 'Findaway' compliment cuts like 'Day Trip' and its melancholy pop-rock pocket sublime. The distant vista of tunes like 'Steady Eddie' contrast songs such as 'Higher Baby' and its merging of R&B energy-urgency. To come full swing in this carousel of musical colors and capacities we come upon brilliant cuts like 'Why Can't You' ; It's magnificent shimmering hook laden with cascades of ambiance and synthesizer background awash in sly production and mix down digital delay/reverb as to be surmised as a pop/rock gem of inflection reflected aura-sonic. Again witnessed in 'Sweet Sweet Love' we find a moody string with atmospheric effulgence, radiating outwards from the listeners senses to the innermost area of emotion and feeling. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This conveys the mastery and unique talent of an artistic British enigma from Manchester; A stones throw away from Liverpool and with all the muse and scenery characteristic of the great artistic output and brilliance of resident Jack Hassall. Don't be fooled by mere words of praise. Realize and experience Jack Hassall at the beginning of his invention, penetration and insight not only into the fans and listeners hearts; But also to the rise of a songsmith in all of his original ground breaking art to and for people who love true inspiration.

Music Style Multi genre instrumental studio based electronic/analogue music - blues pop rock jazz. Electic and extremely diverse. I've come to believe that the often abstract music I write is best combined with visuals and dialogue. These pieces take on a completely new meaning in this context. Check out some of The Inside Reel episodes and you'll hopefully "see" what I mean by this. It's also true to say that as far as film music goes, this music is "non-classical" - i.e. NOT John Williams, for example. There are lots of people that do this and it's basically a non-starter for yours truly. Also, there are lots of people who compose non-classical film music, who are ideally qualified to do so and would be a more appropriate choice in many projects. So it's really a function of circumstance that things are the way they are and that it all worked so well in the context of the Inside Reel. I have not uploaded anything that I personally did not feel comfortable with - at some point or other, I have said to myself, "that's good". That's one of the many criteria I place upon myself when I do this. The interview with http://www.getunderground.com has more background information, as does the feature on "What about submarines" (a link is on the front page). So welcome to my small but intimate musical world - I do hope that you like some of the music and thanks for listening!!

Musical Influences ... from BB King to Badly Drawn Boy and beyond! ... 20hz-20khz - recent influences Roy Patterson (Guitar, Canada), Ulf Wakenius (Guitar, Sweden), Pat Curly (Piano, USA). My roots are in blues and rock: BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Johnny Winter, Sonny Boy Wiliamson, Albert King, Freddie King, Howling Wolf, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Free, Yes, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, George Benson, Thomas Dolby, The Eurythmics, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Ry Cooder, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Jacques Loussier (switched on Bach), King Crimson, Dave Grusin, Tal Farlow, Art Farmer, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, Weather Report, Simply Red (I nearly got the guitar chair, but that's another story), Badly Drawn Boy, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Vaughn Williams, Frank Zappa, Louis Stewart, Peter Almquvist, Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds, Joy Division/New Order, M-People, Martin Hannet, Trevor Horn/Malcom Maclaren (Buffalo Gals), Mozart, Bach, Benoit Mandlebrot and lots of great people I've met on the Internet in the hip-hop/electronica pycho-accoustic scene.

Similar Artists listen.com said Prince - I kid you not! Manchester England UK. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Herbie Hancock

Artist History Well ... it's a longish story ... I played the cello and recorder (shriek!!) as a small boy in high school. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I discovered the electric guitar through my somewhat older nephew, who had moved to Manchester from the USA, and brought a '67 Fender Telecaster with him. Through him, I became exposed to artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson, John Hammond, John Mayall, BB King, Fleetwood Mac (the original one!)and so on. Oh, and Jimi Hendrix too (whoops!). That would have been around 1970. Ten years later, I was out playing in clubs (as "the guitar player" in the band) every night. I did this for years and gained a lot of experience from the smallest pubs/clubs to huge concert venues such as the Manchester Apollo and the Hammersmith Odeon, as "the guitar player" - in other words, a sideman. Anyway (ask anybody who's been in "showbiz") ... times changed and I got the blues. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd always been interested in things "progressive" - i.e. anything that was "new". I was particularly interested in synthesisers in the days when they could only play one note at a time (monophonic!). So naturally there was an inherrent couriosity there when a friend showed me a computer (TRS 80!) but I really wasn't convinced. Some time later, I ended up teaching myself 8088 assembler programing (boy, that was wild!) and wrote a sampler program which let you watch the incoming bitstream, capture it and manipulate it (and save it to disk!). So a lifetime later, here I am on the Internet. It's really changed things and I would say has in fact "democratised" the creation and distribution of music. Without this medium, it's certain that you would never hear any of these tracks, and believe me, there's nothing worse than having music that nobody gets to hear. So your attention is hugely appreciated - thank you.

Group Members Simply Jack

Instruments electric/accoustic guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica and I'll attempt to incorportate almost anything I can get my hands on into the music if it's appropriate ...

Albums What about submarines, Rhythms of the Universe ( IUMA/demo)

Press Reviews ... highlights from GodsOfMusic.com review of Stella Blues and Taxi Dance Revisited ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ... I rarely write about music I am wholly unfamiliar with. This is one of those few occasions. The only reason that I picked this artist to begin with was because of the way in which he placed his "signature" in the categories normally used to place the song title and genre in our review request fields. He only placed a sort of smile. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess I took it for a smirk actually, perhaps his was saying "hey, whatever you want to pick and think is fine by me." I am glad I took his challenge. There is some really nice stuff on this guy's page on MP3.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stella Blues in particular was one I found very pleasing. Jack Hassall has some really nice chops. Playing for over thirty years will do that for a guy, I suppose. In this case, Jack draws heavily from the rock and blues roots he was into during the very late 60-70s. That he is from England tends to show in his nods to the Thin Lizzy type of guitar riffs, while a touch of Electric Light Orchestra just graces the idea behind the arrangement and slide guitar work. Add in a tad of the kind of production you might hear from Lindsay Buckingham and you've got a pleasant little piece of music. No vocals on this one, Jack is strictly an instrumentalist it seems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A departure from the rock side of Jack, is the cool breeze jazz of Taxi Dance Revisited. With its George Benson / Larry Carlton influences shining through loud, proud and strong, Jack shows us that he really has sat and learned how to play his music, with articulation and skill. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gotta tell y'all, I really like some of this guy's ideas. There is a lot on Jack's page to admire. Chris K. Pro Critic Radio

Location Manchester, England - United Kingdom

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