The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus – Never Stop II (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 52:12 minutes | 1014 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edition Records

The Bad Plus came together at the end of the 20th century and has avoided easy categorization ever since, winning critical hosannas and a legion of fans worldwide with their creativity, unique sound and flair for live performance. The intensely collaborative trio has constantly searched for rules to break and boundaries to cross, bridging genres and techniques while exploring the infinite possibilities of three exceptional musicians working in perfect sync.

The band consists of founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums) and new member Orrin Evans (piano) — a group of passionate collaborators with no single “leader.” Never Stop II is the first full-length release from this lineup, comprised entirely of original music with each member contributing fresh compositions. The New York Times calls it “an exhilarating document” that sparks an exciting new chapter for the iconic group.

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The Bad Plus – Inevitable Western (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:51 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Okeh – Sony Masterworks

The Bad Plus – bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King – have a well-earned reputation for pushing the limits on what is expected of a piano-bass-drums trio. The past 15 years have seen the genre-smashing band create a distinctive and original repertoire of inventive and exciting original music, along with iconoclastic covers of artists as divergent as Nirvana and Neil Young, Aphex Twin and Ornette Coleman.

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The Bad Plus – Activate Infinity (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 37:38 minutes | 770 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edition Records

Activate Infinity is the second album from The Bad Plus since the remarkable pianist Orrin Evans joined the trio back in 2018. With their sights set on a new trajectory, combined with an abundance of spirit and creativity, the trio have produced one of their finest and most original albums to date. This is group music played with vibrant imagination and vigour. It’s real, deeply honest and personal. Their joy in music-making together is clear and their vision is committed and democratic. With a new home on the British label, Edition Records, the trio are working with a renewed intent that will see them grow to new heights and continue to flourish. Sit back, listen and enjoy the ride!

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The Bad Plus – The Bad Plus (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:50 minutes | 972 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edition Records

Can a rhythm section lead a band? And what happens when a piano trio becomes a quartet without a piano? For the second time in four years, The Bad Plus, a stalwart jazz presence since 2000, has made a change. In 2018 original pianist Ethan Iverson departed and was replaced by Orrin Evans, who three years later decided to go solo, and has now been replaced by tenor saxophonist Chris Speed and guitarist Ben Monder (a member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra who was part of David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar). Speed has played with drummer/co-founder David King in different contexts including the group Broken Shadows.

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The Bad Plus – It’s Hard (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 49:01 minutes | 997 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Artwork: Front cover | © Okeh/Sony Masterworks

The Bad Plus’ new album, It’s Hard, the group’s 12th studio album, and contains only covers. There’s no particular overarching aesthetic to the selection. It encompasses alternative rock from the ’00s (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio); hits of the ’80s (Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Gabriel, Crowded House); a piece from free-jazz hero Ornette Coleman and one from a spiritual descendant of saxophone-blowing and melody-shaping, Bill McHenry; and some other unlikely idiosyncrasies (Barry Manilow). Neither is there a formula for approaching these songs. Some seem like acts of reinvention, disassembly and re-engineering (Kraftwerk sans motorik beat); others amplify the existing energy the best a mischievous acoustic piano trio can (Johnny Cash as a shuffle after too many drinks). Somewhat naive, maybe, impishly tweaked, likely. (more…)