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Curtis Hasselbring

Curtis Hasselbring

Adjunct Professor of Jazz Trombone and Music Technology

B.M. New England Conservatory of MusicM.M. Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University

Description

Curtis Hasselbring is a trombonist, guitarist and composer who has been based in New York City since 1994. Curtis is active as a freelancer in the jazz, experimental and world music scenes and performs internationally. He has appeared on more than 90 recordings including releases with Matt Wilson, Tom Harrell, Chris Lightcap, Gunther Schuller, Golem, Benny Carter, John Hollenbeck and Slavic Soul Party and has performed in a myriad of situations ranging from Broadway to experimental chamber music. Curtis is also active as a composer creating music for big band, jazz combos and wind ensemble, as well composing chamber music. Curtis was commissioned in 2010 by Chamber Music America to create a new jazz work for his ensemble, “the New Mellow Edwards,” entitled “Number Stations.” Curtis has also arranged/composed music for the TilT Brass Ensemble, the Either Orchestra and the Kronos Quartet.

In addition to Curtis’s talents as an instrumentalist, he is also busy in the electronic music world. Since 2005, he has released several recordings under the name Curha and has also created numerous remixes, most notably for Slavic Soul Party and Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars. His most recent solo recording was released in 2018 on Chant Records.

As an educator, Curtis has taught at the Maine Jazz Camp since 1998 in addition to maintaining an active presence as a private teacher of brass and guitar and has led clinics and workshops at many colleges and secondary schools throughout the United States.

Website: www.curha.com

Specialties

Trombone; jazz improvisation, arranging and composition; electronic music; eastern European and Klezmer music

Recordings

Solo Releases
  • Curha I (Chant Records 2018)
  • The Logue EP (BLIM 2017)
  • Number Stations (Cuneiform Records 2013)
  • Big Choantza by the New Mellow Edwards (Skirl 2008)
  • The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl 2006)
Selected discography 
  • Chris Lightcap’s Superbigmouth (Pyroclastic 2019)
  • Ghost Train Orchestra – Book of Rhapsodies V.2 (Accurate 2017)
  • Ken Schaphorst Big Band – How To Say Goodbye (JCA Recordings 2016)
  • Golem – Tanz (Discos Corazon 2015)
  • Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars – Carnival Conspiracy (Piranha 2005)
  • Matt Wilson Quartet – Humidity (Palmetto 2003)
  • Slavic Soul Party – Live In Makedonia (Knitting Factory Works 2002)
  • Tom Harrell – Time’s Mirror (BMG 1999)
  • Jazz Passengers Featuring Debby Harry – Live In Spain (32 Records 1998)
  • Bobby Previte – Too Close To The Pole (Enja 1997)
  • Either Orchestra – Across The Omniverse (Accurate 1996)
  • Medeski Martin and Wood – Notes From The Underground (Rounder 1993)
  • Benny Carter – Harlem Suite (Musicmasters 1993)
  • Gunther Schuller – Jumpin’ In the Future (GM 1989)

Performances

  • Premiere of a series of arrangements of the music of outsider composer “Moondog” for the Ghost Train Orchestra as part of the Winter Jazz Festival (Bleecker St. Theater 2019)
  • Premiere of the CMA-commissioned piece “Number Stations” at the Winter Jazz Festival (Le Poisson Rouge, NYC 2012)
  • Premiere of a new book of big band compositions by the Portsmouth Jazz Society (Portsmouth, NH 2015)
  • Premiere of “Revisitor for Brass Nonet and Drums” (Roulette in NYC 2010)
  • Premiere of “Five Songs Without Words for Wind Ensemble” (Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 1997)

Honors/Awards

  • Highlights in Jazz award for upcoming jazz trombonist (1993)
  • Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Commissioning Grant for the creation of the piece “Number Stations” (2010) 
  • 2011 Meet the Composer “Composer Assistance Program” (2011)