About this time last year came out a fairly infrequent release of Tim Berne in a duo setting. Live In Someplace Nice is a concert souvenir from a time when the avant-garde saxophonist and composer was performing with another famous jazz nonconformist also just getting started: guitarist Bill Frisell. But this isn’t the only record from the two as they made a studio album together and promptly put it out.
Theoretically (1984) completely defied expectations of what a guitar/sax record should sound like, using odd textures and repeating figures that still left room for improvisation but didn’t put didn’t make it the centerpiece. Totally removed from the time during which it was made, this entry remains arguably the most anomalous in the catalogs of either man.
Just a few years after that, Berne did another duo side gig, this time with bassist Mark Helias. Like before, this is an act where both were two, equal leaders and the composing chores were split nearly in half. Unlike before, this duo never cut a studio record together (Berne did appear on Helias’ 1987 entry The Current Set but that was within the context of a larger band). So the early October 2025 appearance of Medium Cool is the first publicly available set of recordings that capture the presumably short-lived Helias/Berne project.
Medium Cool captures a gig at Brooklyn’s Roulette venue in November 1989. Helias handled the mastering of this hour-plus long string of performances, removing crowd noise and refining the tapes to near-studio quality.
“Television” doesn’t much allude to the avant-garde bonafides of either participant; Berne’s alto sax veering closer to Art Pepper than, say, Helias’ former employer Anthony Braxton, but it’s very pleasing to the ear. Helias finds the right harmonic counterparts to Berne’s sequences, even seemingly anticipating the saxophonist’s next move. On the other extreme is “Jacques,” where notes are widely dispersed as Helias alternately bows and plucks through his jousts with Berne.
“Knitting – excerpt” — another Helias tune — also eschews conventional song structure, this time in favor of an extended form; the bassist goes on the offensive in piloting through some tricky passages, sometimes in unison with Berne. “The Usual” suggests blues and serves as another vehicle for the telepathic interplay between the two and Helias has a walking bass feature that impactfully summons the old masters.
“Luna” and “The Noose” have aspects of the highly structured/highly improvisational song form that Berne would later take to new heights.
The Tim Berne/Mark Helias partnership might be just a blip on the expansive careers of either musician, but that didn’t mean they didn’t make music that showcased their vast abilities as musicians and composers. We can now confirm this, because of Medium Cool.
Snag a copy of Medium Cool today over at Bandcamp.
*** Tim Berne CD’s and vinyl on Amazon ***
*** Mark Helias CD’s and vinyl on Amazon ****
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