Curtis Rae Hasselbring (born July 12, 1965, in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist, guitarist and composer. Hasselbring learned trombone and guitar while young, though he did not play guitar professionally until the 1990s. He studied formally at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

, graduating in 1988, then worked with Charlie Kohlhase, the Either/Orchestra and Ken Schaphorst. He took a master's degree at

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1991-1993, during which time he began working with Chris Speed, Bobby Previte,

Cuong Vu Cuong Vu (Cường Vũ) (born 19 September 1969) is a Vietnamese-American jazz trumpeter. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Vu was a member of the Pat Metheny Group. He is the first American person of Vietnamese descent to win a Grammy ...

, Satoko Fujii, and others. He is the leader of the ensembles The New Mellow Edwards (with John Hollenbeck, Trevor Dunn and Chris Speed), Decoupage (with Mary Halvorson, Matt Moran and Satoshi Takeishi), and his newest project, the Curhachestra (with Raphael McGregor, Adam Minkoff and Daniel Rieser). He has released three albums as a leader. Curtis is also active creating electronic music and remixes under the name "Curha".

Discography

As leader

* ''The New Mellow Edwards'' ( Skirl, 2006) * ''Big Choantza'' (Skirl, 2009) * ''Number Stations'' (

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

, 2013)

Under the name "Curha"

Curha I
(''Chant Records'', 2018)
Curha II
(''Chant Records'', 2020)
Curha III
(''Chant Records'', 2022) * Slavic Soul Party, ''Remixed'' (Barbes 2008)
Zion80
''Warriors RMX'' (Chant Records, 2021)

As sideman

With Either/Orchestra * ''Radium'' (Accurate, 1988) * '' The Half-Life of Desire'' (Accurate, 1990) * ''The Calculus of Pleasure'' (Accurate, 1992) * ''Across the Omniverse'' (Accurate, 1996) With Satoko Fujii * ''South Wind'' (Leo Lab, 1997) * ''Double Take'' (EWE, 2000) * ''Jo'' (Buzz, 2000) * ''The Future of the Past'' (Enja, 2003) * ''Blueprint'' (Natsat Music, 2004) * ''Undulation'' (PJL, 2006) * ''Fujin Raijin'' (Victo, 2007) * ''Summer Suite'' (Libra, 2008) * ''Watershed'' (Libra, 2011) * ''Eto'' (Libra, 2011) * ''Shiki'' (Libra, 2014) * ''Fukushima'' (Libra, 2017) * ''Entity'' (Libra, 2019) With Ghost Train Orchestra * '' Hothouse Stomp'' (Accurate, 2011) * ''Book of Rhapsodies'' (Accurate, 2013) * ''Book of Rhapsodies Vol. II'' (Accurate, 2017) * '' Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog'' (Cantaloupe Music, 2023) With Ken Schaphorst * ''Making Lunch'' (Accurate, 1989) * ''After Blue'' (Accurate, 1991) * ''When the Moon Jumps'' (Accurate, 1994) * ''Purple'' (Naxos, 1998) * ''How to Say Goodbye'' (JCA, 2016) With others * George Adams, ''Where Were You?'' (GM, 1989)
Joy Askew

Everything Is Different
' (2022)
Audible Spirits
(''Diskoknife'', 2023) * Beat Circus, ''Dreamland'' (Cuneiform 2008) * Oren Bloedow &

Jennifer Charles Jennifer Asher Charles (born Zipken; November 15, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter. Along with Oren Bloedow, she co-founded the New York band Elysian Fields. Her work is known for its emotional intensity, with her writing exploring n ...

, ''La Mar Enfortuna'' (Tzadik, 2001) *

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

, ''

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

'' (MusicMasters 1992) * Gogol Bordello, ''Super Taranta!'' (SideOneDummy, 2007) *

Golem A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

, ''Fresh Off Boat'' (JDub, 2006) * Golem, ''Tanz'' (Corason, 2014) * Jerry Granelli, ''Enter, a Dragon'' (Songlines, 1998) * Jerry Granelli, ''Crowd Theory'' (Songlines, 1999) *

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

, ''Time's Mirror'' (RCA Victor, 1999) * The Jazz Passengers, ''Live In Spain'' (32 Records, 1998) * Chris Lightcap, ''Superette'' (Royal Potato Family 2018) * Chris Lightcap, ''SuperBigmouth'' (Pyroclastic 2019) * Frank London, ''Brotherhood of Brass'' (Piranha, 2002) * Boban Markovic, ''Boban I Marko'' (Piranha, 2003) * Medeski Martin & Wood, ''Notes from the Underground'' (Accurate, 1992) * Eric Person, ''Thoughts On God'' (Distinction, 2012) * Bobby Previte, ''Too Close to the Pole'' (Enja, 1996) * Roberto Juan Rodriguez, ''Baila! Gitano Baila!'' (Tzadik, 2005) * George Schuller, ''Jigsaw'' (482 Music, 2004) *

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City ...

, ''Jumpin' in the Future'' (GM, 1988) * Ron Sexsmith, ''Whereabouts'' (Interscope, 1999) * She & Him, ''Classics'' (Columbia, 2014) * Assif Tsahar, ''Embracing the Void'' (Hopscotch 2001) * Matt Wilson, ''Humidity'' (Palmetto, 2003)

References

American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Musicians from Indiana American male jazz musicians Ghost Train Orchestra members 1965 births Living people Musicians from Fort Wayne, Indiana {{US-jazz-trombonist-stub