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| The Idea The aSTraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit is the life-long artistic project of Kurt Hill Iselt. The project features his musical compositions which are inspired by the 1960's jazz avante-garde: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and The Art Ensemble of Chicago to name a few. The phrase "aSTraL-teRRa" represents the artistic idea of reaching for the stars while staying rooted to the earth; in other words, opening oneself to all the creative possibilities while staying true to one's artistic voice. The word "Trapeze" represents the idea that the music, like the trapeze artists, should swing from one extreme to the other so as to draw the audience into the performance's drama. The History Kurt Hill Iselt began his artistic work in Nashville after college. With the aid of mentors such as Jeff Coffin (now with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), he wrote Trapeze's first music and led the first incarnation of the project on gigs at local venues. After moving to Chicago in 1997, Kurt played in various music projects and studied with Ken Vandermark. It was the summer of 2000 when he re-assembled The Trapeze Unit. In September of that year they ventured into the studio for the first Chicago recordings. Several shows followed at venues including the Empty Bottle, the Hungry Brain, the Nervous Center, and the Rogers Park Jazz Festival, as well as a live performance and interview on WNUR. The band spent 2002 in Residence at Phyllis Musical Inn honing their collective skills for recording sessions in Spring 2003. The result of those efforts are heard on the group's second studio cd, released in September 2003. A cd release show was held at Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge, followed by an Empty Bottle show in December. The Trapeze Unit took a sabbatical in 2004 to develop new material and has begun rehearsals for upcoming shows. A third studio album is planned for 2006. The Personnel Aside from the alto saxophone and flute of Kurt Hill Iselt, the quintet features Bill Brimfield, a veteran Chicago trumpet player who has been heard on numerous classic recordings including Joseph Jarmon's free jazz classic "Song For" and some of Fred Anderson's best albums. The most recent addition to the band is upright bassist Dan McNaughton who leads the Spider Trio throughout the Chicago jazz circuit. Stu Greenspan, the guitarist, plays in a wide range of contexts including the noted reggae band Waterhouse and teaches music theory at Columbia College. The trap drummer Bonbonfera Tim Keenan, a life-long rhythmatist, has studied with masters of traditional West African music as well as leading his own "Critic's Choice" winning ensembles. Manifesto simplicity music has no residue no waste like paintings or photos nothing to save or store music only needs the space to vibrate the sound is everywhere in the body, in the universe music is vibration and vibration is what created the universe music is God i make music because i love it because it's what i have to do it's inside me and i must let it out it started with my music collection a quest to find new sounds followed by djing at my college radio station but i became tired of just listening to others make music i had music inside me that needed a voice jazz spoke to me free jazz spoke to me the challenge so far out that, if you get it, you find a higher consciousness you are outside yourself a transcendental meditation improv music truly speaks the real just as the saints of jazz spoke the reality of the black experience there are other places to go musically but i want to live the simple a live band, creating on the spot always new, in the spirit of the jazz saints earthy, from the motherland from the beginning, the internal journey of creativity always seeking the truth |