The Bad Plus
Few jazz groups in recent memory have amassed such acclaim, and inspired such controversy, as The Bad Plus. For almost fifteen years, they have thrived at the intersection of jazz, indie rock and contemporary classical music, inspiring Rolling Stone to call them “about as badass as highbrow gets.” The Bad Plus’ 10th studio recording, Inevitable Western, sees bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King further honing the same conceptual base that fired their inception. Yet again they continue to explore myriad musical forms born of jazz along with any sonic source that forwards music that is uniquely The Bad Plus. Inevitable Western is an album where pop, blues, and folk meld with classic melodies and rhythmic innovation into that rarest of hybrids: intelligent music for the masses.