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The Bad Plus

A billboard outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport advises travelers to report "Suspicious Activity," a phrase which typifies the "paranoid security-conscious society in which we're now living," says The Bad Plus bassist Reid Anderson. Struck by the advisory, drummer David King found in it the perfect title for the new Bad Plus album and the perfect metaphor for the group's new music.

"There is a sound in the middle of the three of us that is The Bad Plus," says David. On Suspicious Activity?, the group's third album for Columbia Records, that sound moves and grows in fantastic new directions, testing limits of what an acoustic bass-piano-drums trio can accomplish and what genuinely new music can actually sound like.

Pianist Ethan Iverson observes, "Our concept is far removed from the traditional roles of our instrumentation. The idea of 'piano-in-front-with-two-gentle-accompanists' is so completely foreign to what we do that it's simply…gone."

Suspicious Activity? is the first new Bad Plus studio album since the critically-acclaimed Give (released March 2004). In the meantime, the group has racked up some 250 performances on four continents, becoming one of the most telepathically tight and musically adventurous bands on the planet. Bringing its music to venues outside the traditional jazz concert circuit, The Bad Plus has drawn audiences from the realms of indie rock, techno and jam bands—the group's set at Bonnaroo being among one of the most buzzed-about events of the festival—and is on the front lines of an emerging new alternative music.

On Suspicious Activity?, The Bad Plus have again teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Tchad Blake, whose signature experimental sound has graced projects by Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Suzanne Vega, Los Lobos, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Phish, as well as The Bad Plus's previous Columbia Records albums These Are The Vistas and Give. The new album was recorded "live" at Real World Studios in May 2005.

"The Bad Plus is controversial in jazz circles," says Ethan, "and one of the factors is the way the tones are recorded. We're not necessarily striving for the most natural tones possible; we're trying to get the best sounding record. We're a high impact band and Tchad gives us a high impact sound; he knows how to work the board to enhance our sound. I always wanted to play something new and it feels like I'm getting there with The Bad Plus."

Echoing the subversive quality of the music within, the cover art and inside booklet for Suspicious Activity? is by the acclaimed underground artist David Rees, perhaps best-known for his controversial comic strip "Get Your War On".

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Live Review

Monterey Jazz Festival at 65: Let it Happen

Read "Monterey Jazz Festival at 65: Let it Happen" reviewed by Josef Woodard


Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey County Fairgrounds Monterey, CA September 23-25, 2022 For the finale of the arena portion of this year's Monterey Jazz Festival programming, Gregory Porter channeled one of the aspects which make him special in the jazz pantheon, as spirit mover with gospel roots, and with show biz instincts in tow. Launching into his moving, swaying anthem “No Love Dying" as an encore for his festival-closing set, Porter invoked the classic “lighter" moment ...

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Radio & Podcasts

New releases from Lydian Nadhaswaran, Sven Gotz and Troy Roberts

Read "New releases from Lydian Nadhaswaran, Sven Gotz and Troy Roberts" reviewed by Len Davis


New music with Lydian Nadhaswaram from Chromatic Grammatic, Swedish guitarist Sven Gotz, UK based Bassist Mike Forrest Flynn, The Bad Plus, Yellow Jackets, Troy Roberts, and KneebodyPlaylist Lydian Nadhaswaram “Spot" from Chromatic Grammatic (Amly) 00:00 Sven Gotz “The Promise" from Panjoy (Jazzandrecords) 07:07 Mike Forrest Flynn “Strange Weather" from Strange Weather (Self Produced) 14:10 The Bad Plus “Sun Wall" from The Bad Plus (Edition) 21:12 Yellow Jackets “Resilience" from Parallel Motion (Mack Avenue) 28:23 Troy Roberts “Big Night ...

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Live Review

The Bad Plus at Bijou Theatre

Read "The Bad Plus at Bijou Theatre" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


The Bad Plus Bijou Theatre From Big Ears, Part 2 Knoxville, TN December 4, 2020 The Bad Plus kicked off the virtual concert series “Sites & Sounds from Big Ears" with their October 9th concert streamed from Knoxville's historic Bijou Theatre. This second installment began with a point of view shot walking down S. Gay Street to the theater entrance, through the glamorous Art Deco lobby (which surely will trigger a twinge of recognition ...

Album Review

The Bad Plus: Activate Infinity

Read "Activate Infinity" reviewed by Emmanuel Di Tommaso


Quando alla fine del 2017 Ethan Iverson lasciò i Bad Plus si parlò di fine di un'era per uno dei piano jazz trio più originali e longevi della musica contemporanea. Sempre aperti a nuove sperimentazioni e a sconfinamenti che li hanno portati a contaminare il loro post-bop jazz di partenza già di per sé istrionico con la freschezza e il melodismo della pop music e del rock strumentale, con l'abbandono di Iverson sembrava veramente che qualcosa potesse minare la coesione ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Highlights of Jazz in the Early 2000s (1999 - 2003)

Read "Highlights of Jazz in the Early 2000s (1999 - 2003)" reviewed by Russell Perry


This is the 97th of 100 programs in the Jazz at 100 series. We move now into the 21st century, presenting music from less than twenty years ago. Which of these performances will have lasting value? What players will be remembered for their contributions to advancing the music? What trends will turn into dominant themes? The more recent the music, the more difficult it is to tell with any certainty. As mentioned in the last two hours of ...

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Live Review

Atlanta Jazz Festival 2018

Read "Atlanta Jazz Festival 2018" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Atlanta Jazz Festival Atlanta, GA May 26-27, 2018 The Atlanta Jazz Festival prides itself on being one of the largest free jazz festivals in the United States. The 41st edition took place under a forbidding forecast of heavy rainstorms: the event announcements made a big point of stating that the festival was a “rain or shine" event. In the end the weather largely held--with the exception of a couple of brief showers on Saturday afternoon--and if ...

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Album Review

The Bad Plus: Never Stop II

Read "Never Stop II" reviewed by Samuel Stroup


Armed with a new pianist and eight solid original tunes (plus two original bonus tracks), The Bad Plus prove that being a working, cohesive band is what's most important to them. Their 13th album, Never Stop II, sees a triumphant return of the seasoned piano trio, after the relatively graceful departure of their long-time pianist Ethan Iverson and their less graceful previous album, It's Hard (Okeh/Sony Masterworks, 2016), of all cover songs. On the Never Stop II, The ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus v 2.0, Storm Large, "Winter Jazz Fest," and more

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus v 2.0, Storm Large, "Winter Jazz Fest," and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

It's a big week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with one performance that's literally drawing international attention, the debut of a new festival, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Thursday, January 18 Guitarist Todd Mosby's New Horizons Ensemble performs at Sky Music Lounge; The People’s Key will play at the Chase Club; and saxophonist Ben Reece‘s Unity Quartet returns to The Dark Room. Friday, January 19 Saxophonist Kendrick Smith begins a new weekly residency, leading a ...

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Bad Plus Joshua Redman

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Bad Plus Joshua Redman

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, our video spotlight shines on The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, the collaborative project in which the critically acclaimed trio of the first part—pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, known collectively as The Bad Plus—joins forces with the highly esteemed saxophonist of the second part, Joshua Redman. This all-star aggregation will be playing this coming Tuesday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 20 at Jazz at the Bistro, and while as of this writing some tickets ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: David Sanborn, Nicole Johänntgen, Tyshawn Sorey, The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, and more

Jazz this week: David Sanborn, Nicole Johänntgen, Tyshawn Sorey, The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

There's lots of jazz and creative music happening in St. Louis over the next week, including the return of a hometown hero, the local debut of a much-talked-about drummer and composer, and the first chance for audiences here to check out a critically acclaimed collaboration between two well-known jazz headliners. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, April 13 Saxophonist David Sanborn—who, as longtime StLJN readers no doubt know, grew up right here in Kirkwood—returns to St. Louis to begin a ...

Event

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus, Matt Villinger CD release event, and more

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus, Matt Villinger CD release event, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

As usual for the season, things are a bit slow for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis during the first full week of the new year, but there is at least one notable touring act in town this weekend, along with enough music from local performers to satiate those prepared to venture out against the winter's chill. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 6 The Bad Plus return for the tenth consecutive January for a four-night engagement ...

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Recording

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman Debut Album Out Now

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman Debut Album Out Now

Source: Michael Ricci

In 2011, The Bad Plus invited saxophonist Joshua Redman to join them for a week of enthusiastically received performances at the Blue Note in jny: New York City. They then played a handful of dates before heading into the studio last year to record their debut album, The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, which is out now on Nonesuch Records in North America (June 8 for the rest of the world). To pick up a copy now, head to your local ...

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Event

The Bad Plus Performs The Ornette Coleman Masterpiece Science Fiction, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 12 April

The Bad Plus Performs The Ornette Coleman Masterpiece Science Fiction, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 12 April

Source: All About Jazz

As part of the extraordinary weekend of music that is April Jazz, The Bad Plus with very special guests will perform Ornette Coleman’s classic album Science Fiction (Columbia, 1972) in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, Sunday, 12 April, 8pm. Ornette Coleman’s 1972 album Science Fiction, “a stunningly inventive and appropriately alien-sounding blast of manic energy...it's overflowing with brilliance” (Allmusic), is widely considered a landmark recording and especially so for pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King of ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus returns to Jazz at the Bistro, and more

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus returns to Jazz at the Bistro, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Though this week in St. Louis brings unusually frigid temperatures along with the usual temporary post-holiday lull in touring activity, there still are some jazz and creative music performances happening around town that will reward those determined to brave the cold. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 7 Tonight, The Bad Plus (pictured) begin a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro, marking the ninth consecutive year the trio has performed at the Bistro in early January. Since their ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: The Bad Plus, Nathaniel Bartlett Plays Stockhausen, Lina Koutrakos, and More

Jazz This Week: The Bad Plus, Nathaniel Bartlett Plays Stockhausen, Lina Koutrakos, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

As St. Louis continues to dig out from the big storm, it looks like this week's jazz and creative music performances around town should go on as scheduled. Should the weather turns nasty again, however, we encourage you to call ahead before heading out to your venue of choice, and this site will be updated with any cancellation info received at StLJN HQ. Hoping for warmer temperatures soon, let's go to the highlights... Tonight, The Bad Plus returns to St. ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: The Bad Plus Plays Stravinsky, Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet, the Brubeck Brothers, Laurence Hobgood and Ernie Watts, and More

Jazz This Week: The Bad Plus Plays Stravinsky, Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet, the Brubeck Brothers, Laurence Hobgood and Ernie Watts, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The good news is that it's another busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, including some very attractive free events. The bad news is that, absent time travel, cloning or some other fictional technology that doesn't exist, it's probably impossible for one person to hear it all. Nevertheless, to help you decide which shows are worth checking out, here are StLJN's picks for the week. Tonight, Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Trio The Bad Plus Performs At Lawrence University

Jazz Trio The Bad Plus Performs At Lawrence University

Source: Rick Peterson

APPLETON, WIS. — The convention-breaking jazz trio The Bad Plus makes its Lawrence University debut Friday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel as part of the college's 2012-13 Jazz Series. Tickets, at $15-22, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749 or [email protected]. Featuring Wisconsin native Ethan Iverson, piano, and Minnesotans Reid Anderson on bass, and David King on drums, the trio performed together for the first time as teenagers once in 1990. After spending the ...

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Concerts

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Never Stop II

Legbreaker Records
2018

buy

It's Hard

Okeh
2017

buy

The Bad Plus Joshua...

Nonesuch Records
2015

buy

The Rite of Spring

Sony Music
2014

buy

Never Stop

E1 Music
2012

buy

For All I Care

Heads Up International
2009

buy

Wolf Out

From: Made Possible
By The Bad Plus

Videos

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