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MP3 Rick Helzer - Face in the Mirror
11 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, JAZZ: Free Jazz
Details:
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON RICK HELZER
Jazz Pianist, Composer and Educator
Updated 7/3/06
Rick Helzer is the Associate Director of Jazz Studies at San Diego State University where he coordinates the undergraduate and graduate jazz theory programs and combos.
Rick has performed extensively over the last twenty-five years in a number of jazz groups. Notably he performed with the trio Big World, touring Germany and the Pacific Northwest, and recording "Devotion" (Cexton Records) and "Angels" (9 Winds Records). Both albums received critical acclaim in Jazz Times, Cadence, Coda, Saxophone Journal and numerous other publications. Jazz Times reviewer Doug Ramsey said of "Devotion," "This is one of the most stimulating debut records in years." In Saxophone Journal reviewer Tim Price said of Angels, "Their artistic greatness is the likes of which you need to hear. This is essential music played by a world class ensemble." He is also featured as a soloist, composer and arranger on sixteen other albums, many of which have been reviewed in the above publications.
His most recent recordings include "Face in the Mirror," a CD of his compositions featuring flutist James Newton and saxophonist Kim Richmond and "Fancy Meeting You Here," an album of duets with woodwind artist and composer, Vinny Golia. Both were released in November of 2004 on the Nine Winds label. In the May 2005 issue of All About Jazz, reviewer James Taylor said of "Face in the Mirror," “For an introduction to an incredible yet unknown artist it is a must.” In the summer 2005 edition of Signal to Noise, reviewer Larry Nai said of Rick Helzer, “Helzer’s luxurious pianisms and quick thinking make him a great duo partner for (Vinny) Golia…”
Rick is a prolific composer who has written nearly three hundred compositions, many of which have been published via recordings and print media. He has written a number of commissioned works as well. In 1996 he wrote Spherical Connotations (Variations on Themes of Thelonious Monk). The piece was performed during a South American tour in April under the auspices of the United States Information Agency and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 1997 Artistic Ambassador Program, and received many favorable reviews. More recent commissions include Saxophone Quartet No.1 (2001), a major work for the Spectrum Saxophone Quartet, that was recorded on the group’s soon to be released CD on the Circumvention label. He is currently composing a brass quintet and a trio for violin, piano and cello. Additionally, he has composed new music for a new collaborative jazz ensemble called the ARC Trio along with music for duo with guitarist John Stowell, which was recently recorded for release by the end of 2006.
Rick is also a regular contributor for Jazz Improv magazine, providing numerous solo transcriptions, annotations, record reviews and a regular column entitled Jazz Piano Perspectives.
In the scholarly arena, He co-authored an article, Jazz Listening Activities: Children''s Literature and Authentic Music Samples that was published in the October 2002 issue of the Music Educators National Convention Journal. More recently he authored an article on jazz composition in the 2004 May/June issue of the Jazz Education Journal entitled Cultivating the Art of Jazz Composition.
In June of 2002, Rick did a highly successful performance tour of Costa Rica with the faculty/student jazz trio, "Jazz Express," that garnered jazz critic Alberto Zúñiga''s praise in his review published in Costa Rica''s La Nación in which he stated Rick, "revealed himself to be a first class performer, owner of a personal expression and knowing how to speak the language of the great legends of jazz..." During the summer of 2003, Rick and “Jazz Express” presented three formal concerts, three concerts in jazz clubs and seven master classes during a very successful twelve day tour in the Bolivian cities of Santa Cruz, Sucre, La Paz and the indigenous village of Urubicha in the Bolivian jungle.
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