Thomas Helton embraces all musical genres
Thomas Helton is repairing a cello. It’s going poorly.
“I hate working on cellos,” he says. “Any instrument smaller than a bass is a waste of my time and energy.”
He’s joking, sort of, though Helton’s loyalty to the bass runs deep. A thoughtful composer, daring improviser and distinctive instrumentalist, Helton’s body of work is all over the map. He was a kid entranced with heavy metal until 1990 when he heard Houston jazz saxophonist Larry Slezak perform the Miles Davis tune “Seven Steps to Heaven,” which put Helton on a path that involved fewer black Tshirts and umlauts.
These days, Helton’s work is all over the jazz map. His progressive Core Trio remains active. He also plays in a metal band and a Dixieland ensemble. He runs the Houston Composers Salon (formerly the Houston Composers Alliance), a nonprofit that promotes composition of modern music. He’s also organized interesting programs of music honoring jazz greats like Charles Mingus, Paul Desmond and Jimmy Giuffre.
“Basically, you do work you love, but you also do whatever work you find so you can survive,” he says. “Pop, jazz, Broadway, avant garde jazz.”
Sometimes Helton crosses the streams — he’s worked up free jazz arrangements of some Ozzy Osbourne songs.
This week, various strands of his work twist together. Through the Composers Salon, he’s bringing jazz trombonist Steve Swell to town to perform a new composition commissioned by the salon. And his Core Trio also will perform with Swell.
Swell’s body of work is astounding in its breadth.
He’s worked with all manner of luminaries in modern music and free jazz, including Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Jaki Byard and Ken Vandermark. He’s also recorded with rapper El-P. Which is to say, he’s a composer and instrumentalist compatible with Helton.
“I’m just drawn to guys like Steve, who know what it’s like to be in the trenches with this music,” Helton says. “Who aren’t prima donna avant garde stars. Just musicians who don’t care about genre. Who are so moved by so many things that they don’t ever want to use that word. That’s what I hope to do. I love all this work. I see myself as a guy in a polyamorous musical relationship. And I see Steve as a pioneer of that mindset.”
Helton doesn’t yet know what exactly he’ll be getting with the commission. He knows Swell has written for an eight-piece ensemble that will include himself, the Core Trio (Helton, saxophonist Seth Paynter and drummer Joe Hertenstein) and other local instrumentalists: trombonist David Dove, trumpeter Eddie Lewis, French horn player Rebecca Novak and violinist Aaron Beilish.
“I’m very excited about the commission,” Helton says. “He wrote this clarinet trio years ago. I knew his work already, but not as a composer. I heard that and thought, ‘Holy (expletive), I want to bring that to Houston.’ But he has written something new. I’m not sure if it’s one piece or three pieces. But we’ll find out when he gets here.”