PRESS REVIEWS
“It’s about as badass as highbrow gets.”- Rolling Stone
“If the Coen Brothers put together a jazz trio, perhaps it would be like this, the comic and the dramatic rolled together.”
- The Guardian
“...After three years of steady work, that shit is deep. If the stars align, they will mow you down.”
- The Village Voice
“Better than anyone at mixing the sensibilities of post-60's jazz and indie rock.....”
- The New York Times
“Audacious, rule-breaking jazz trio crunches and at times pulverizes swing to let improvisational freedom shine...Dynamics play a huge roll in the act's music, as does humor, an element sorely lacking in most of contemporary jazz. But beauty is also key... jazz purists tremble while the vanguard flocks.”
- Billboard
“Bigger and more audacious...somewhere between refreshing and downright awe-inspiring.”
- CMJ Monthly
“...high art, not pop gimmickry...The Bad Plus embrace sonic adventure without selfish avant-gardism...seething with funky new-millennium rhythms and succulent harmonic flights.”
- Entertainment Weekly
“So, if this piano trio wants to play as loud as a rock band...well, let 'em rip....these bad boys have the musicianship to back up their attitude.”
- The New Yorker
“The Bad Plus are an acoustic jazz trio for the future.”
- Blender
“With the most distinctive sound of any three-piece outfit since Nirvana, The Bad Plus again demonstrate vitality few bands--rock, jazz, or whatever--can match.”
- Amplifer
“The Bad Plus are a reminder that American jazz hasn't gone to sleep. Play any of their albums and their collective sound leaps out of your speaker, steps all over your furniture and scares the bejesus out of the cat.”
- Observer Music Monthly
BRIEF HISTORY
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 20s apart -- King as member of the seminal indie jazz group Happy Apple, Iverson as the musical director for the 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.OFFICIAL COLLATERAL
The Bad Plus Press Kit International Music Network: The Bad Plus
COLLABORATORS
TCHAD BLAKE engineered and co-produced SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY?, GIVE, and THESE ARE THE VISTAS.READ MORE
TONY PLATT, engineer and co-producer of PROG, is a freelance Music Engineer/ Producer based in the U.K.
READ MORE
WENDY LEWIS began her music career auditioning on a dare for a swanky Minneapolis nightclub back in the mid-eighties. That didn’t last long... She was thrilled to be contacted by ex-band mate Dave King to collaborate with The Bad Plus on “For All I Care”.
READ MORE
BRENT SIGMETH engineer on FOR ALL I CARE and 2nd engineer on PROG, is currently a freelance engineer and producer based in and around Minneapolis. He served ten years as the chief engineer of PACHYDERM STUDIO, where Prog and For All I Care were recorded.
READ MORE
DAVID REES designed the cover and booklet for SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY? Rees burst on the scene post-9/11 with a collection of political cartoons called GET YOUR WAR ON, which skewered the Bush administration's War on Terror.
READ MORE
MATT FRIESEN drew the cover of GIVE. Friesen is most often busy as a cabinet-maker and furniture-builder, but has also produced artwork for some of his favorite musicians.
READ MORE
STEPHEN COLLIER created the paintings ROBONAUT, ORD, and BINARY UNIT used as album art for THESE ARE THE VISTAS. (ROBONAUT is the iconic cover painting.)
READ MORE
JAMES DIERS has been variously entangled with the Bad Plus as a tour manager, wrangler, guerrilla photographer/videographer, deputy publicist, third-string mix engineer, online paramedic, night watchman, goodwill ambassador and fry cook since 2004.
READ MORE