Mark Helias | |
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Background information | |
Born | New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States | October 1, 1950
Genres | Jazz, Avant-garde jazz, Free jazz, Free improvisation |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, educator |
Instrument | Double bass |
Labels | Enja, Radio Legs, Koch, Marge, GM |
Website | MarkHelias.com/ |
Mark Helias (born October 1, 1950) is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. [1]
He started playing the double bass at the age of 20, [2] and studied with Homer Mensch at Rutgers University from 1971 to 1974, then at Yale School of Music from 1974 to 1976. [1] He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, The New School, and SIM (School for Improvised Music). [3]
Helias has performed with a wide variety of musicians, first and foremost with trombonist Ray Anderson, with whom he led the ironic 1980s avant-funk band Slickaphonics, and a trio with Gerry Hemingway on drums, formed in the late 1970s, later named BassDrumBone. [1] [2] Helias has also performed with members of Ornette Coleman's band, Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Ed Blackwell, and with musicians affiliated with the AACM, such as Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams. [2] [3]
Since 1984 Mark Helias has released twelve recordings under his own name and further albums leading the archetypal improvising trio Open Loose since the late 1990s. [4] [2] The group comprises Helias on bass, first Ellery Eskelin, then Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and Tom Rainey on drums. [2]
With Open Loose
Duo with Jane Ira Bloom
With Sophia Domancich and Andrew Cyrille
With Terrence McManus and Gerry Hemingway
With Michael Moore, Alex Maguire, and Han Bennink
With Mark Dresser
With Daniele D'Agaro and U.T. Gandhi
With Christy Doran, Bobby Previte, Gary Thomas
With Slickaphonics
With Ray Anderson and Gerry Hemingway a.k.a. BassDrumBone
With Ralph Alessi and Modular Theatre
With Barry Altschul
With Ray Anderson
With the Ed Blackwell Project
With Jane Ira Bloom
With Anthony Braxton
With Don Cherry
With Marilyn Crispell
With Franco D'Andrea
With Anthony Davis
With Benoît Delbecq Unit
With Paul Dunmall Sun Quartet
With Marty Ehrlich
With Ricardo Gallo's Tierra de Nadie
With Dennis González NY Quartet
With Jerome Harris
With Gerry Hemingway
With Peter Herborn
With David Lopato
With Joe Lovano
With Michael Moore
With Simon Nabatov
With Operazone (Bill Laswell-Alan Douglas-Karl Berger-Project)
With Jim Pepper
With Bobby Previte
With Enrico Rava
With Dewey Redman
With Joe Rosenberg
With Roswell Rudd and Heather Masse
With Samo Šalamon
With Dave Schnitter
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