First published on Sun 27 Jun 2021 03.55 EDT Jon Hassell, the influential American avant garde composer who invented the global-minded “fourth world” musical aesthetic, has died aged 84. In a statement, his family said the “iconic trumpet player, author and composer” died in the early hours of 26 June, after just over a year of health complications. In spring 2020, Hassell broke his leg in a fall at his recording studio and spent four months recuperating in hospital, in isolation owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Hassell “cherished life and leaving this world was a struggle as there was much more he wished to share in music, philosophy, and writing”, said his family. “It was his great joy to be able to compose and produce music until the end.”