Mark Helias is a bassist with a long resumé as a sideman, co-leader and leader for more than forty years. He’s played for mainstream and progressive jazz stars alike, such as Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Dewey Redman, Barry Altschul, Muhal Richard Abrams, Oliver Lake, and Mose Allison. I was really fond of the way he held together two strong opposing forces in the drummer Altschul and saxman Jon Irabagon on the live document It Takes All Kinds. However, Helias is also known for his long-standing BassDrumBone trio with Ray Anderson and Gerry Hemingway and since the late 90’s led another trio Open Loose with a sax (Tony Malaby) and drums (Tom Rainey).
The Third Proposition is a new release from Open Loose but an old recording: it captured the combo in the middle of a tour in early 2000 that brought them to France for a number of weeks. Yes, there’s already a live Open Loose album from a performance later that same year (New School) but it’s here where the three developed a deeper sense of reciprocity that was fortuitously captured one February night at Paris. The passage of time only made Helias appreciate even more the magic they were able to produce together from a rare time they were able to string together enough successive performance to build that kind of chemistry.
All the songs played here are Helias originals, except for a few credited to the whole band. Perhaps not coincidentally, those are the freer tracks, indicating that these are group improvisations pretty much made up in the moment. Playing in the moments exemplifies “The 53rd Signal,” all three playing with both intensity and purpose as Rainey and Malaby run down the quicksilver bass line spooled out by Helias as if it was a slot and they’re the slot cars. It leads uninterrupted right into the more defined “Line Nine” but not without its share of twists waiting just around the corner, one of which being Rainey’s smashing drum solo.
“The Third Proposition” is another group concoction, where Malaby is given the reigns to run wild and set the tone for everyone, often taking excursions well outside. “Expostulation” is likewise crossing over into avant-garde; an itchy, bass-drums joust for the first minute and a half and then Malaby leads the trio on the outer edge of modern jazz.
“Munchkins” is built around a funky, circular Helias bass line and Malaby quickly settles into the Helias/Rainey calypso groove. Before Malaby can run out of ideas, the rhythm section throws the tempo into the next gear and that sax gets another jolt of energy to keep it flowing.
“Question Time” begins with Malaby creating his own wall of sound but settles into the super-tightness that has all three syncing together on a fast ‘n’ funky groove. Where that tune begins with Malaby alone, Helias gets his turn on “Gentle Ben.” He turns in a performance of profundity while Rainey is slaying it behind Malaby during “Last One In, First One Out.”
Just as his instincts on bass are superb, Mark Helias showed good instincts about cutting loose this long, forgotten recording of a club date when all cylinders were firing. Pick up a copy of The Third Proposition from Bandcamp.
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