Jazz Articles about Mark Helias

Open Loose: Strange Unison

by AAJ Italy Staff
October 20, 2008

Per qualche strana ragione, il trio Open Loose del contrabbassista Mark Helias non gode della fama che spetterebbe ad un trio di questo calibro. Una lacuna che riflette quanto avviene, sul piano individuale, con i singoli componenti del gruppo. Tutti ottimi musicisti. Anzi, fantastici musicisti. E però, quando si parla di grandi contrabbassisti quasi mai compare il nome di Marc Helias. Idem per quanto riguarda i batteristi e Tom Rainey, o i sassofonisti e Tony Malaby. Nel nostro piccolo, cerchiamo ...

Mark Helias: The Struggle Continues, Dance of the Soothsayer

by Stuart Broomer
May 4, 2008

Dewey Redman The Struggle Continues ECM 2007 Dennis Gonzalez Dance of the Soothsayer's Tongue (Live at Tonic) Clean Feed 2007 Open Loose Strange Unison Radio Legs 2008

Mark Helias is a consummate bassist, a musician whose abilities as both collaborator and soloist have ...

BassDrumBone: The Line Up

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 27, 2007

Un ménage a trois consolidato e sempre vivo quello tra Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway e Ray Anderson, semplicemente BassDrumBone, a sottolineare con essenzialità che non c'è bisogno di dire molto altro. D'altronde, basta fare due conti: sono ormai trent'anni che i tre artisti hanno deciso di incrociare i propri destini musicali - a partire proprio da questo trio, ma anche nel quintetto di Hemingway, negli Slickaphonics, con Braxton, a volte in due, spesso tutti e tre - e questa comunanza, ...

Mark Helias

by Celeste Sunderland
February 22, 2007

Perpetually in the moment, musicians have a unique perception of things, according to bassist Mark Helias, an advantageous attribute in a world where most of the population slumbers and self-expression is the goal. “It's a Darwinian thing. Some people believe 20 percent of the population is awake, the rest is asleep, just follows the flow. In a so-called participatory democracy, that's dangerous. As a musician, acutely aware of the political and social atmosphere, Helias can consider himself several ...

Mark Helias: Atomic Clock

by Donald Elfman
December 11, 2006

Mark Helias--his big steady bass and organic, his compositions ever-changing--continues to set the standard for making music that bears shape and direction but also celebrates the freedom to improvise openly and... er... loosely. For ten years he and his powerful trio have refined and broadened the scope of this music so by now the players share an ethos that allows them to explore what making music in a group means. It's three individuals bonded by the passion of collaboration.

Mark Helias' Open Loose: Atomic Clock

by Jerry D'Souza
October 27, 2006

In a career spanning over twenty years, Mark Helias has worked with some interesting musical collaborations and concepts. He has constantly searched for the new and challenging, whether it has been in the company of musicians like Ray Anderson, Pheeroan akLaff, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway, to name a few--or in his writing, which encompasses chamber music, big band charts and smaller collaborations like a bass duo with Hemingway.

Helias' concept of open loose sits in well with ...

Mark Helias: Fictionary

by Jim Santella
September 1, 1998

A creative composer and bassist, Mark Helias gathers familiar harmonies and fresh melodies, combines them with checkered rhythms, and produces music guaranteed to hold your interest. Fictionary was recorded at performances in the Netherlands for the Groningen Jazz Festival and the Nijmegen Music Meeting in 1995 and '96, respectively. The quartet, which combines Ellery Eskelin's tenor saxophone with Mark Feldman's violin, Helias' bass, and drums, is aptly named Attack The Future. Tom Rainey was the drummer for the 1995 appearance; ...