The Bad Plus
Tues. & Wed. May 13 & 14
7 PM
$20
Video The Bad Plus on the recording of "Prog" (2007 Heads Up)
Audio The Bad Plus' "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" (mp3)
badFive years ago, The Bad Plus released These Are The Vistas, their first recording for the venerable Columbia label. With a sound more akin to a rock and roll assault than to the politeness of a jazz piano trio, with influences ranging from Stravinsky to Ornette Coleman, and a repertoire blending diverse original material and provocative covers of Nirvana and Aphex Twin, The Bad Plus earned a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking groups in music.
Four years and two more landmark albums later (2004's Give and 2005's Suspicious Activity?), The Bad Plus turned the page with their newest release, PROG. An excitingly mature and exhilarating album, PROG is the work of a band in clear control of their musical intentions, their sound, and their business. It is at once a new beginning and a confirmation of past promise.
The Bad Plus tackle four covers: Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule The World" and Burt Bacharach's "This Guy's In Love With You" plus massively deconstructed versions of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" and David Bowie's "Life On Mars." As is now a Bad Plus tradition, the covers frame the band’s original compositions, including the stunning new ballad, "Giant," the intricately angular "Mint,"and the final installment in their tribute to athleticism, "1980 World Champion."
Regardless of the repertoire performed, the band is simply breathtaking. Favoring group improvisation over individual solos, eschewing all jazz cliches, The Bad Plus rip into each set with a combination of Swiss-watch precision, the spectrum of dynamics and reckless abandon.
The Bad Plus is a collective made up of bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverbad2son, and drummer David King. All three are from the Midwest and they have known each other since their teens. Nonetheless, with the exception of one unimpressive meeting in 1990, it is only after spending their formative 20s apart -- King as a session player in Los Angeles, Iverson as the musical director for the prestigious Mark Morris Dance Group, Anderson as a prominent up-and-coming player on the New York jazz scene -- that they reunited in late 2000 to play a weekend club date in Minneapolis. The chemistry was immediate and obvious. They planned a second gig and a one-day recording session for the indie jazz label Fresh Sound and The Bad Plus was born.
On this same first gig, the nascent group played their first rock cover, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Thus began The Bad Plus trademark of complementing original repertoire with their takes on mainstream pop “standards” including ABBA, Black Sabbath, the Bee Gees, Queen, Blondie, Aphex Twin, Neil Young, and Bjork.
While the covers helped to spread their reputation, they comprise less than 20% of the band's live repertoire. Anderson, Iverson, and King are all superb composers in their own right, each boasting a distinctive style. Iverson’s music is the more intellectual and complex, Anderson's the more melodic and romantic, and King’s the more rhythmic and surreal.
Don't miss The Bad Plus as they roll into Nighttown for a two night stand on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 & 14.
www.thebadplus.com
For More information and to buy ticket visit: http://www.nighttowncleveland.com/
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