Mark Helias (born October 1, 1950) is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He started playing the double bass at the age of 20, and studied with Homer Mensch at Rutgers University from 1971 to 1974, then at Yale University's School of Music from 1974 to 1976. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, The New School, and SIM (School for Improvised Music). 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. Helias has also performed with members of Ornette Coleman's band, Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Ed Blackwell, and with musicians affiliated with the AACM, such as Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams. Since 1984 Mark Helias has released twelve recordings under his own name and further albums leading the archetypal improvising trio Open Loose since the late 1990s. The group comprises Helias on bass, first Ellery Eskelin, then Tony Malaby on tenor saxophone and Tom Rainey on drums. Recognition/Awards 2010 - American Composers Orchestra Reading Commission, 2007 - Chamber Music America Grant for New Works, 2006 - Distinguished Alumnus Award Livingston College, 1991 - Meet the Composer/Reader's Digest Commission, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000 - Arts International Travel Grant, 1988, 1994 - NYFA Grant in Music Composition, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995 - NEA Grant in Jazz Performance, 1981 - CAPS Grant in Music Composition, Discography As leader Music For Big Band (Radio Legs, 2020) Roof Rights (Radio Legs, 2020) Available Light (Radio Legs, 2020) Fictionary (GM Recordings, 1998) Loopin' the Cool (Enja, 1995) Attack the Future (Enja, 1992) Desert Blue (Enja, 1989) The Current Set (Enja, 1987) Split Image (Enja, 1984) With Open Loose The Third Proposition (Radio Legs, 2020) The Signal Maker (Intakt, 2015) Explicit – Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2011) Strange Unison (Radio Legs, 2008) Atomic Clock (Radio Legs, 2006) Verbs of Will (Radio Legs, 2004) New School (Enja, 2001) Tony Malaby replaces Eskelin Come Ahead Back... (E1/Koch Jazz, 1998) with Ellery Eskelin and Tom Rainey Collaborations Duo with Jane Ira Bloom Some Kind of Tomorrow (Radiolegs Music, 2020) With Sophia Domancich and Andrew Cyrille Courtepointe - Live at the Sunside (Marge, 2012) With Terrence McManus and Gerry Hemingway Transcendental Numbers (NoBusiness, 2011) With