The Bad Plus had their breakthrough in 2003 with their debut album
These Are The Vistas. With striking originals, but also with nearly insane interpretations of Blondie, Abba and The Pixies, they made quite an impression. That also accounts for the follow up
Give and the CD
Suspicious Activity? which was released last year. Once again they improvised like crazy and Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano) and David King (drums) established their name as an absolutely original, American new style jazz trio. Heavy, rock oriented drums , leading bass instigated grooves and swelling, melodic interpretations on the grand piano. Whether this is beautiful music or not remains to be seen: the music is teeming with dissonants. But sometimes the jaw drops because of all these strange, original, sometimes almost corny movements, bold statements and strong interactions. Keep an eye out for these boys, because The Bad Plus glorify an idiom entirely of their own; humorous jazz with the power of a rock band.
