caption website associated_acts birth_place label background birth_date instrument genre image article_title name occupation
helias 2010 pnoto : claire stefani at cornelia street cafe , july 2 , -lsb- http://www.markhelias.com/ mark helias.com / -rsb- ray , anthony braxton , dewey redman , marty ehrlich anderson , slickaphonics , gerry hemingway , bassdrumbone new brunswick , new jersey united states enja recordings , radio legs , koch records , gm non_vocal_instrumentalist 01 october 1950 double bass jazz mark helias2.jpg mark helias
 mark helias musician , composer , educator
mark helias

mark helias -lrb- born october 1 , 1950 -rrb- is an american jazz double bass player and composer born in new brunswick , new jersey .
he did not begin playing the double bass until the age of 20 , graduating from yale university 's school of music with a masters degree in 1976 .
he has also studied at rutgers university .
he teaches at sarah lawrence college , the new school , and sim -lrb- school for improvised music -rrb- .
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 , and continuing to play together .
besides helias performed with the previous members of ornette colemans original band , don cherry , dewey redman , and ed blackwell , just as with musicians affiliated with the aacm , such as anthony braxton , anthony davis , muhal richard abrams , and julius hemphill .
furthermore he played with cecil taylor , marilyn crispell , simon nabatov , and reed players oliver lake , carlos ward , arthur blythe , don byron , and marty ehrlich , whereas less usual were performances with abbey lincoln , mose allison , and j.b. horns .
since 1984 mark helias has released six recordings under his own name and further six albums leading the archetypal improvising trio open loose since 1996 .
the group comprises helias on bass , first ellery eskelin , then tony malaby on tenor saxophone and tom rainey on drums .
