The Bad Plus

For the past ten years The Bad Plus Reid Anderson, Ethan Iverson and David King have broken down the walls of jazz convention and created an uncompromising body of work. Few jazz groups in recent memory have amassed such acclaim, and few have inspired such controversy. Their belief in the band ethos and their personal brand of avant-garde populism have put them at the forefront of a new instrumental music movement, drawing audiences both traditional and mainstream. While the bulk of their output… Show more has been original music, they have deconstructed songs in the pop, rock as well as the country and classical music idioms.
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 s~~t 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

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