The Bad Plus
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The Bad Plus are a jazz trio consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King. The three musicians first played together in 1989, but didn't come together as an established act until 2000. Perhaps to make up for lost time, they proceeded to record their first album, a self-titled effort released on Fresh Sound, after playing only three gigs together. In 2002, after playing a show at the Village Vanguard which was heard by Columbia Records representative Yves Beauvais, the band was signed to Columbia. They released their major label debut, These Are the Vistas, in 2003, and followed it up with Give in 2004 and Suspicious Activity? in 2005. The trio has since parted ways with Columbia; Heads Up Records (a division of Telarc) will release the band's upcoming album, PROG, which is scheduled to come out on May 8, 2007.
The trio's music combines elements of traditional and free jazz with rock and pop influences; These Are the Vistas includes a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Flim" by electronic music artist Aphex Twin, and Blondie's "Heart of Glass", and Give features covers of tunes by Ornette Coleman, Pixies, and Black Sabbath. Suspicious Activity contains a cover of the theme from "Chariots of Fire". A cover of "Karma Police" by Radiohead was contributed to the 2006 album "Exit Music".
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.
- The Bad Plus (2001) - also known as Motel.
- authorized bootleg: new york 12/16/01 (2002)
- These Are the Vistas (2003)
- Give (2004)
- Blunt Object - Live In Japan (2005)
- Suspicious Activity? (2005)
- PROG (2007)
- The Bad Plus website
- The Bad Plus blog, "Do The Math"
- Glide Magazine, The Bad Plus: Give and Take
- Live in performance — photos by Bruce C Moore
- Audio interview with Reid Anderson recorded January 2007