American trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Hassell was an international legend despite never having managed a popular breakthrough. Hassell was a musical visionary and pioneer, one who was inspired by ambient sounds and new music. He appreciated the music of avant-gardists such as Stockhausen, in whose Cologne school he also studied. 1987 The Surgeon of the Nightsky Restores Dead Things by the Power of Sound is undoubtedly one of his best works.