The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit

About Me

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. 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. Kurt also spent this period studying with the excellent Chicago saxophonist Jim Gailloreto. 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 then, in 2005, again became active on the new music scene. A third studio album was released in 2007 and some of that album is featured in the short film "box one forty-seven" by Christopher M. Jones and Jesse S. Robinson.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/24/2005
Band Members: 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 Jarman'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. All were part of the new album's main unit. On the debut album, Darius Savage played upright bass, Alexander Duvel played flugelhorn and Jamie Topper played percussion. On the band's 2003 recording, Vytis Nivinskas played upright bass, Paul Hartsaw played tenor and soprano sax, Alexander Duvel played percussion on two tracks and flugelhorn on one, Hesino Paul Spata played congas on two tracks, Kosi Keith Eric contributed vocals to two tracks and Gynna Kray contributed vocals to one track. On the upcoming album, Alexander Duvel contributed flugelhorn on one track and percussion on two, Gynna Kray contributed vocals to two tracks and Kosi Keith Eric contributed vocals on one track.
Influences: Thelonious Monk; Prince; John Coltrane; Led Zeppelin; Miles Davis; Bob Marley; Fele Kuti; Radiohead; Sun Ra; Aretha Franklin; White Stripes; Ornette Coleman; David Bowie; Eric Dolphy; Otis Redding, Alice Coltrane; Nicole Mitchell, et al. Damn it! There's a lot of great music out there! No room for it all.
Sounds Like: It can go a number of ways but probably most like something heard on mid '60s Blue Note records by Don Cherry, Grachan Moncur and Wayne Shorter. At least this is the hope and dream. There are certainly a number of tracks that completely lead off the beaten path. Basically, the creative doors are fully open and anything is possible. Though I think Alice Coltrane might wander in on occasion.
Record Label: AstraL-teRRa Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

NEW CD - how to get a copy

Send me your address and I'll mail a CD copy. Send back whatever money you think is satisfactory.Or use SNOCAP below. The tracks are as follows:1) Navigato2) Aloe3) Kaistrasse4) Still Sanu...
Posted by The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:11:00 PST

New Songs

I was sad to release Kwahadi and Greech from the page but I believe the new material will be more than adequate. The whole band did an unbelievable job on the new recordings and I think it shows. I ...
Posted by The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit on Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:19:00 PST

2007

The band has again been on sabbatical as I (referring to me, Kurt) has taken on law school. However, just before the fall semester, we finished recording our next album. A few finishing touches are ...
Posted by The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit on Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:28:00 PST

Elevated Controls

I've been trying to focus on getting a recording done this summer - especially since I'll be back in school come fall. The primary recording is one I've had on the burner for a good number of ye...
Posted by The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit on Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:16:00 PST

Getting it all down

So as to put some notes down and keep my focus, I'm just thinking back through the songs and albums of the Trapeze library. When I started playing again after coll...
Posted by The AstraL-teRRa Trapeze Unit on Sat, 03 Jun 2006 08:19:00 PST