London-based trumpeter Vincent Curson Smith, now 23, has been inspired by the Fourth World music of Jon Hassell for his entire living memory. For composer Blake Leyh, Hassell’s music has been a guiding star since he first heard it in 1981, and Hassell collaborated with Leyh in 2012 for a film score. After Hassell died in 2021, Curson Smith and Leyh decided to make a Fourth World record following in Hassell’s footsteps, and the result is The Apprentice to The Surgeon of The Nightsky, a dream-fueled journey into a world of extended-technique trumpet, electric cello, hazy washes of drones, and dub percussion. The music is a tribute to Jon Hassell’s lasting legacy.