The Bad Plus
The Bad Plus is a collective made up of bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, 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 twenties 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 Björk.
While the covers helped to spread their reputation, they comprise less than 20 percent of the band's live repertoire. Anderson, Iverson, and King are all 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.
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. The
group has received wide airplay on NPR and college radio and has developed a strong presence on the
international concert circuit, playing more than 170 shows each year.
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