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Remember when I said you don’t listen to enough Jazz. Then I reminded you that it was true. Well, it is true, I did say that, and you still don’t listen to enough jazz. I’ve got another jazz band that everyone should check out. The Bad Plus is a three piece band consisting of a piano, upright bass, and one hell of a drummer. I first heard of these guys from my friend Steve. We were having a conversation about good drummers, and of course I insisted on guys like Danny Carey, Terry Bozzio, Neil Peart, and the like (can you tell I tend to favor rock musicians?). Steve insisted on David King from The Bad Plus. At the time I had never heard of him. I still stand by my choices now, but David King is still pretty damn good and I’d probably appreciate him even more in a live setting… which I hope to do some day.

My introduction to The Bad Plus started with These Are the Vistas (2003). This album has some really strong tracks to start it off. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the album was able to keep the momentum. As a consequence, The Bad Plus didn’t stay in the cycle of frequently played albums. Well, here’s what I’m getting at. That was just a bad call. Maybe I listen to music with more of an open mind, or maybe those paint chips I ate as a child hit me like an acid flash back right after I bought the album. Who knows? I came across these guys again when I told you to listen to more jazz and then needed to both heed my own advice and find more jazz bands. The Bad Plus was the first band to come to mind. When I decided to write a post on The Bad Plus, I only owned These Are the Vistas. Aside from feeling the need to have more than one album to write a quality post, simply writing the first paragraph and listening to These are the Vistas inspired me to purchase some more. So, I just decided to get their most recent album, Prog (2007). I’ve only had a chance to listen through only once, but I’m having a very positive initial reaction. I feel like it might be an even better introduction to The Bad Plus if you’ve not yet heard them.

I have a lot of appreciation for three piece arrangements. I feel like it’s the fewest number of instruments required to really fill the whole sound spectrum. While the piano has the potential to accomplish that, one piano plus two hands equals lots of spectral gaps. I’ve seen acts pull off a piano/drummer duet, but it still never felt like a full act. Adding in the bass player allows the piano to really focus more on melody and counter melody as opposed to having to fill the rhythm that the drums simply cannot complete alone. Throw in a few talented musicians behind those instruments, and you’ve got one the best possible foundations prior to the writing process. It turns out that not only can The Bad Plus write their own songs well, they do some really phenomenal interpretive covers. Two of my favorites thus far are Smells Like Teen Spirit and Tom Sawyer by Nirvana and Rush respectively. Their version of Everybody Wants to Rule the World is pretty slick too. You certainly can’t help to recognize either song, nor can you avoid appreciating the interpretation into an instrumental jazz composition. The clip below consists of Big Eater from These Are the Vistas and their cover of Tom Sawyer from Prog.