I liken it to the idea of sending a spaceship to the moon, it's not a straight line, everything is always moving. You can't use geometry, you use trigonometry. For the resourceful, New York bassist, such issues have merely produced a broader resume. Helias has thrived on the chaos thrown his way, and has made himself available as a leader for several different small ensembles, solo performer, composer, sideman, or producer. Nowadays, making your first CD is like getting your business card on some level.
People make a CD to try to get a gig for the door.
That is a little different. In the twenty-two years since Helias left New Haven, Connecticut for the rat race of New York City, he has witnessed first hand the passage of time, a and constant changing of guards. I'm hearing a generation of people coming in now, who have listened to all the stuff that's developed in the last twenty years, and that's become part of the lexicon, so they already know the language. Ironically, this sentiment surely echoes that of a young bass player twenty years ago. Not yet out of the Masters program at Yale, Helias was cutting his professional teeth in groups lead by Leo Smith and Ed Blackwell.