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151
Album Review

The Astral-Terra Trapeze Unit: The Astral-Terra Trapeze Unit

Read "The Astral-Terra Trapeze Unit" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Chicago's Astral-Terra Trapeze Unit is the brainchild of alto saxophonist/flutist/composer Kurt Hill Iselt. Inspired by 1960s jazz icons like Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Sun Ra, Iselt chose his band's name to symbolize the polarities of Earth and stars, with musicians as trapeze artists swinging between them.

The first thing you notice about this Trapeze Unit is how cohesive it is. These players negotiate the rhythm, tempo, and time signature changes of Iselt's tunes (he wrote ...

109
Album Review

The Stan Kenton Orchestra: Odyssey 1951-68

Read "Odyssey 1951-68" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The Kenton Orchestra’s Odyssey, comprising previously unreleased concert dates from 1951–68, was assembled from various sources (audio tapes) by John Loeffler’s superb Astral Jazz label, which already has given Kenton partisans the orchestra’s definitive in–person recording, the magnificent Live at Keesler Air Force Base, 1958, and at least three other superlative concerts by the unrivaled Kenton ensemble. If Odyssey doesn’t quite parallel Keesler, it comes so close that scarcely anyone who admires Kenton’s super–charged modus operandi will be in the ...


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