Jazz Articles about Rick Helzer

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Paul Yonemura: First Flight Home

by Jack Bowers
September 22, 2026

For a recording that almost did not happen, drummer Paul Yonemura's First Flight Home is a welcome intruder and an undeniable pleasure to hear. As Yonemura tells it, four of his compositions were recorded on a demo tape in 1984, which is as far as they were intended to go. After listening to them, however, saxophonist Larry Honda added a pair of his original compositions and pianist Rick Helzer one, and what was once a demo tape started ...

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ARC Trio: Triptych Mirror

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 8, 2007

Questo CD dell'etichetta californiana Circumvention Music propone una musica interessante, che, senza aggiungere molto all'attualità del jazz, si rivela aggiornata, elegante, concepita con idee puntigliose, esaltate da un concentrato interplay. I temi, mai banali, il più delle volte sono disegnati con decisione: emblematici in tal senso “Ballad of the Credit Card Millionaire" e “Manic! Manic!! Manic!!!", entrambi scritti da Helzer. Raramente, resi più evanescenti, i brani si dipanano con una certa ritrosia, come capita in “Still Time, Quiet Time" e ...

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Rick Helzer: Face in the Mirror

by Michael Davis
September 11, 2005

When the South Bay-based trio Big World broke up in the early '90s, many local jazz fans were disappointed, feeling that, even after two good albums, the band's potential hadn't really been reached. Yet now, in 2005, it would appear that all three musicians are playing some of the best music of their lives. Tenor saxophonist Bill Plake is back burning with noted trombonist/composer Mike Vlatkovich, while percussionist Jeanette Kangas has spent the last couple of years in various creative ...

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Rick Helzer: Face In The Mirror

by Glenn Astarita
August 11, 2005

Rick Helzer, composer/pianist/author and Associate Director of Jazz Studies at San Diego State University, displays a complex yet delectably attainable approach to modern jazz. With perennial poll winner James Newton appearing on flute on selected works, the various ensemble alignments provide a discerning glimpse into Helzer's linearly designed and lyrically rich compositional style.

Helzer bridges the best of several jazz-inflected idioms here, consisting of the soloists' brisk unison choruses often tied into bop-like patterns and glancing shifts in ...

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Nine Winds: Face in the Mirror and Fancy Meeting You Here

by James Taylor
May 20, 2005

Vincent Golia has quietly built a powerhouse indie jazz label at Nine Winds. Since its establishment in 1977, the label has documented jazz's unappreciated West Coast, releasing albums from Nels Cline, Kim Richmond, Tony Malaby, George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith and the multi-instrumentalist Golia. One of Nine Winds' strongest forces right now is pianist/composer Rick Helzer. The San Diego State University professor has been recording jazz for over twenty-five years, most notably with the trio Big World, and ...

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Rick Helzer and Vinny Golia: Fancy Meeting You Here

by Rex Butters
April 19, 2005

Fancy Meeting You Here matches reed regent and CalArts faculty member Vinny Golia with pianist and UCSD faculty member Rick Helzer for a collection of emotionally rich duets, featuring some heart-wrenching playing by Golia. The intimate clarity of the recordings allows Golia's considerable vocabulary of nuance full exposure.

“You Tell 'em Kwai Chung flies out of the gate with Helzer's staccato notes falling all around Golia's galloping soprano. He plays a garrulous tenor on “Are We There Yet? with Helzer ...