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featuring
(Mark Helias-Herb Robertson-Tom Rainey-Michael Moore-David Lopato)
Hands Off
(MP3 sound files)
Meanwhile, various avantists keep positioning themselves to Attack the Future (enja), as the new album from Mark Helias is titled. Helias is a musical omnivore whose inspirations range from classical etudes to world-music groovefests, from gut bucket blues to Crescent City struts to freebop, from satchmo to Mingus to Trane. That's not too surprising in a subtle bassist who's worked with one of jazz's ultimate rhythmic encyclopedists, Edward Blackwell, for 17 years. But more impressive still is how his fertile compositions ingeniously reflect that breadth of knowledge and feeling without degenerating into stilted homages. Instead, propelled by improvisation insights from the outstanding band -David Lopato, Michael Moore, Tom Rainey and Herb Robertson - Helias' serrated pieces slice across musical planes with the kind of witty, graceful inevitability that bespeaks well-honed craft and an ever-more recognizable voice. Gene Santoro