The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus
The Bad Plus (Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, David King)
Background information
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, avant-garde jazz
Years active	2000–present
Labels	HUI, Universal, Do the Math
Website	www.thebadplus.com
Members	Ethan Iverson Reid Anderson David King

The Bad Plus is a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

History

Iverson, Anderson and King first played together in 1989 but established The Bad Plus in 2000. The band recorded their first album, a self-titled effort released on Fresh Sound, after playing only three gigs together. A live performance at the Village Vanguard was heard by Columbia Records representative Yves Beauvais, and the band was signed to Columbia in 2002. Their major label debut album, These Are the Vistas, was released in 2003. This was followed by Give in 2004 and Suspicious Activity? in 2005. After parting ways with Columbia, the group signed to Heads Up Records (a division of Telarc), and released the album Prog in 2007. In early Spring of 2008 they finished recording their next studio album, For All I Care, which features vocalist Wendy Lewis. It was released in autumn 2008 in Europe and in spring 2009 in the US. Their album Never Stop was released in September 2010.

Anderson and King are originally from Minnesota, and Iverson is from neighboring Wisconsin.

King is also part of the Minnesota-based groups Love-Cars; Halloween, Alaska; and Happy Apple. However, he has said that he is only in three working bands because Halloween, Alaska is more of a studio band.^[1]

The trio's music combines elements of modern avant-garde jazz with rock and pop influences. The band have recorded versions of songs by Nirvana, Aphex Twin, Blondie, Pink Floyd, Ornette Coleman, Pixies, Rush, Tears for Fears, Neil Young, David Bowie, Yes, Interpol, and Black Sabbath. Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo includes a cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions" along with the jazz standard "My Funny Valentine". Suspicious Activity? contains a cover of the theme from "Chariots of Fire", while a version of "Karma Police" by Radiohead appeared on the 2006 album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. The band has said that they changed their sound a little bit for their sixth album, For All I Care.^[2]

The trio served as artists in residence at Duke University in 2010 and 2011. On March 24, 2011, they premiered their version of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" at Duke's Reynolds Theater.^[3]

Discography

Studio albums

• The Bad Plus (Motel) (2001)
• These Are the Vistas (2003)
• Give (2004)
• Suspicious Activity? (2005)
• Prog (2007)
• For All I Care (2008 Europe, 2009 North America)
• Never Stop (2010)
• Made Possible (2012)
• The Rite of Spring (2014)
• Inevitable Western (2014)
• The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (2015)

Live albums

• Authorized Bootleg: New York 12/16/01 (2002)
• Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo (2005)

Other contributions

• WFUV: City Folk Live VII (2004) - "And Here We Test Our Powers of Observation"
• Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads (2006, Rapster/Barely Breaking Even) - "Karma Police"
• Everybody Wants To Be A Cat: Disney Jazz Volume 1 (2011) - "Gaston"

References

External links

• The Bad Plus website
• The Bad Plus at TheGrixer.com
• Interview with Bassist Reid Anderson on 10 years as a band Riverfront Times, January 6, 2010.
• Glide Magazine, The Bad Plus: Give and Take.
• Audio interview with Reid Anderson, recorded January 2007.
• The Bad Plus article, February 2009.
• Article
• Ithaca Times article.
• Alarm Press article.
• The Bad Plus on NPR Music
• Newsobserver.com