Perhaps the most acoustic of all Jon Hassell albums, "Flash of the Spirit" unites him with the African rhythm group Farafina, who provide a vivid rhythmic foundation for Hassell's trumpeted meanderings. A single, sustained note starts the proceedings and, one by one, awakens the other intruments, which pulse, rise, fall and return throughout the hour-long album. The second half seems like a more pensive restating of the first half--that is, until "Blue(Prayer)," which closes the album. "Blue" is twelve minutes of hypnotic dreamtime propelled by a two-note bass line that simulates the deep breathing of a mountain. It's all a vicarious experiencing of indigenous human life; it is surprising not to hear more of Hassell on movie soundtracks. An earthy harbinger of "City: Works of Fiction," "Flash of the Spirit" is a hard-to-find jewel in Hassell's amazing body of work.
