Bassist-composer MARK HELIAS and his trio, with TONY MALABY (tenor saxophone) and TOM RAINEY (drums), will perform on the concert's first half. Mark has been involved with innovative music making since beginning his career in the mid-seventies, and has enjoyed long musical associations with Ed Blackwell, Anthony Davis, Dewey Redman, and Don Cherry. He has also performed for more than two decades with Ray Anderson and Gerry Hemingway in the cooperative ensemble BassDrumBone. Mark's latest recordings as a leader include Come Ahead Back (Koch Jazz) and Fictionary (GM Recordings). Visit his website (http://home.earthlink.net/~radiolegs/) for more information.
The concert's second half will feature the music of bassist-composer BEN ALLISON and his group Medicine Wheel, with MICHAEL BLAKE (saxophones), TED NASH (saxophones), TOMAS ULRICH (cello), FRANK KIMBROUGH (piano), RON HORTON (trumpet), and MIKE SARIN (drums). For this concert, Ben will perform new works from his forthcoming recording, Riding the Nuclear Tiger, which will be released on Palmetto Records in January 2001. His recordings as a leader include Third Eye and Medicine Wheel (Palmetto Records) and Seven Arrows (Koch Jazz). Along with Frank Kimbrough, he co-leads the Herbie Nichols Project. The group's latest CD release, Dr. Cyclops' Dream, is available on Soul Note Records. Ben is the founder, Artistic Director, and a composer-in-residence of the Jazz Composers Collective. His trio performs at KUSH (183 Orchard Street, NYC) every Sunday evening.
For more information contact All About Jazz.