Mark Helias

Mark Helias ( born October 1, 1950 in New Brunswick, New Jersey ) is an American jazz double bassist of the Creative.

Life and work

Helias first played in rock bands, drums, guitar and bass; only at the age of 20 he learned bass. He studied at Yale University Music and played soon after in New Haven with Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Davis and Gerry Hemingway. With its rich tone and its exact timing is Helias soon established as an important bassist. He played in a trio of Barry Altschul with Ray Anderson, with Anderson and Gerry Hemingway in the group BassDrumBone and also with Anderson in the group Slickaphonics.

Helias also worked in groups that were led by Ed Blackwell, Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams; later he worked in the groups of Tim Berne and Don Cherry's Nu; temporarily, he also belonged to the group of Cecil Taylor. Since the mid- 1980s he also took on albums as a leader. He also worked with musicians such as Chet Baker, Herb Robertson, Jane Ira Bloom, Mike Nock, Wynton Marsalis, Julius Hemphill, Bennie Wallace, Terrence McManus and Christy Doran.

Discography

  • Split Image ( Enja, 1984)
  • The Current Set ( Enja, 1987)
  • Desert Blue ( Enja, 1989)
  • Attack The Future ( Enja, 1992)
  • Loopin ' The Cool ( Enja, 1995)
  • Fictionary (GM Recordings, 1998)
  • Come Ahead Back ( Koch Jazz, 1998)
  • New School ( Enja, 2002)
  • Verbs of Will (Radio Legs, 2004)
  • Atomic Clock (Radio Legs, 2006)

Lexigraphic entries

  • Ian Carr et al Jazz Rough Guide Metzler, Stuttgart 1999; ISBN 3-476-01584- X
  • Martin Kunzler, Jazz Encyclopedia Vol 1 Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002; ISBN 3-499-16512-0
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