The Bad Plus

Bringing Jazz and Rock to a Melting Point

originally published April 30, 2008

Meet The Bad Plus. It's a typical pop group. Sort of. Aside from the instrumental array of post-bebop jazz and late-Romanticism, chromatic and whole tone scales, bi-tonality and atonalism; you’ll find the band to be quite amiable, and perhaps even accessible - maybe. It’s only after the group combines all of these elements into the occasional classic rock cover that makes the whole ordeal an easier sell - a tactic which, thus far, has offered the group the opportunity to cohabitate within the confines of popular music, introducing a new generation of listeners to its inverted musical agenda in what was once a more comfortably defined living space.

Despised by the orthodox jazz community and otherwise labeled as “postmodern” by the popular press, The Bad Plus has rather unsystematically abandoned the notion of wielding any particular sense of musical/historical tradition, making it increasingly difficult to categorize, or critique for that matter. From the outset, this was probably never the bandmembers' intention, but became so, in spite of themselves and by virtue of their eclectic musical tastes. To the average listener, it is oftentimes difficult to decipher whether The Bad Plus is a rock-inspired jazz trio or a jazz-inspired rock group; yet, in the marginalized context of postmodern musical ambiguity, such labels simply aren’t warranted nor are they in any way helpful. Here lies the difficulty in writing about a group like The Bad Plus, as its sonic palette typically defies the limitations of verbal conventions. Fortunately, for our aural clarification, the road-rehearsed trio will take the stage of Athens’ Melting Point this Thursday, May 1, guaranteeing to brandish flawless technical proficiency and even more sonic force.

Unlike other contemporary jazz artists in its league, The Bad Plus has consistently managed to captivate audiences without requisite all-star collaborations, studio overdubbing or needless digital gimmickry. For the recording of its 2007 release, Prog, the group opted for a truly acoustic representation of its sound, camping out with British-native engineer/mixer Tony Platt (known for his work with AC/DC, The Who and Led Zeppelin, to name a few) in the band's home state of Minnesota, only to find themselves delving right into habitual mayhem. The resulting album reveals the group to be just as prolific as in previous albums, without showing evidence of exhausting its creativity.

In typical atypical fashion, the three-man demolition squad relishes in its own demented pleasures, torturing and maiming thematic elements, as they are rag-dolled from one instrument to the next in some possessed form of imitative counterpoint. On the relentless original, “Physical Cities,” bassist Reid Anderson’s uncompromising 5/4 bass-figure is regularly displaced by pianist Ethan Iverson’s metrical barrage of spiraling 16th notes, and might be the only jazz number to date that hammers out syncopated power chords loudly enough to tear through your subwoofer. It’s the same musical effect that caused audience members to riot after hearing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and precisely the kind of gut reaction these guys are after. To add more fuel to the fire, drummer David King divulged in an interview with Flagpole that the group’s forthcoming album would feature rearrangements of works by both Stravinsky and György Ligeti (most recognizable for scoring several Stanley Kubrick films) - as though covering Black Sabbath just wasn’t enough. King added that a preview of these works in progress could be heard at the Melting Point performance.

In what has become something of a trademark for the group, any Bad Plus album wouldn’t be complete without a collection of pop deconstructions (the group would hesitate to use the term “cover”). The bridge for Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” showcases Iverson’s cascading arabesques in Debussy-like idiom, while Bowie’s “Life on Mars” flaunts his ability to employ one hand to sound the melody, while the other creates a conflagration of chromatic confusion. Yet, it’s Iverson’s “Mint” that truly elucidates his whimsical style of composition, in which he fuses Rachmaninov and Ornette Coleman in bursts of atonal vigor, only to be further disfigured by unpredictable stretches of asymmetrical phrasing. Like a brainy infant throwing a temper tantrum, Iverson gets manically chromatic in moments of frenetic heat, and diametrically fragile when Anderson’s more introverted style forces him to take a musical time-out. “Giant” is recognizably Anderson’s own in its detached melancholy, employing slowly shifting suspended minor chords over an ostinato bass line that borrows as much from Radiohead as it builds upon previous compositions such as “Silence is the Question” (These Are the Vistas) and the Mahler-inspired “Prehensile Dream” (Suspicious Activities?). Looming, omnipresent drummer David King seems more confident in his own musical space, often directing the energy of his bandmates through direct opposition, setting the stage for the inherent conflict within each tune, as in the fiery bossa of “Thriftstore Jewelry.” In his Zen-like approach, King often approaches the kit the way Miles Davis might have approached playing the trumpet - “When they play fast, you play slow,” Miles once advised bassist Buster Williams after a gig, “when they play slow, you play fast.” King asserts that as a group, The Bad Plus is an “organic being” with plenty of breathing room for each member to convey his strengths within each composition. “We’re a total democracy,” King adds.

Never taking success too seriously, the trio has developed what appears to be its own “music-award for the underdog” across its four-album career span, beginning with “1972 Bronze Medalist” from the debut, These Are the Vistas (2003), losing a little steam on Give’s (2004) “1979 Semi-Finalist,” followed by a mysterious gap on Columbia-released Suspicious Activities? (2005) before returning triumphantly with Prog’s “1980 World Champion,” which samples a victory speech from an Olympic contender in the height of his glory, reflecting a trio in the pinnacle of its power as the album races towards the finish. Yet, there is an underlying subtext to this story, as King admits that the hero in his fictional trilogy feels a tinge of remorse in lieu of his hard-earned achievement. This is perhaps no coincidence, as it’s the band’s ever-renewable sense of humility, combined with a tenacious work ethic, that has allowed the members to challenge each other musically, as well as to remain objective about their own careers. “We’ve never been the type of guys to win any awards,” King confesses. Maybe it’s time to introduce a Grammy in the “postmodern jazz” category - but the boys surely aren’t resting their future upon it.

Ryan Monahan

WHO: The Bad Plus
WHEN: Thursday, May 1
WHERE: The Melting Point
HOW MUCH: $20