Mark Helias – bass, Tony Malaby – tenor saxophone, Tom Rainey –drums.

A formidable trio of NYC’s finest comes together in the aptly named Open Loose. Its led by bassist Mark Helias, a musician who has straddled many aspects of New York’s creative music scene since his debut with Anthony Braxton in the late 70s.

In a city that cherishes creativity and rhythm, he is an authoritative figure in both respects, with eleven albums to his name, four of them with this tenor, bass and drums trio.

It’s a format in which the bar was originally set by the seminal 1960’s recordings of Sonny Rollins, who would approve of the loose limbed approach that Helias favours with two peers from the upper strata of US jazz.

Tony Malaby is a tenor man of considerable scope, virtuosic and expressive and moving adroitly in different improvising circles, be it fiery Chicago improv or gnarly new composition.

Tom Rainey’s approach to the drums is both deeply musical and rhythmically engrossing, and he’s enjoyed a prolific output with landmark groups of the last two decades, from the early days of the downtown scene to his current role in groups like Tim Berne’s Big Satan. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.