The Bad Plus - These Are The Vistas
I first came across the Bad Plus on Jools Holland's Friday Night show. At the time they were an obscure piano trio, unknown to the masses. Looking back now, all I can remember about that performance was that I liked them - but then again I liked a lot of the music on Jools' show. They were good, but I didn't jump out of my skin and run to buy a CD the next day (and had I tried, I would have probably failed to find it).
But some months later, something happened. Suddenly everyone was talking about them. They have become, in my mind, a symbol of young modern Jazz. Whilst some hardcore critics shun them, and claim that it is not "proper" Jazz, I disagree. The music is soulful and musical, despite the apparent chaos, lack of rhythm and dischords. Now I don't know exactly what Jazz is - this certainly is not comparable to the likes of Davis and Coltrane - but to me, this qualifies. After all, what else could it be? I'm not one to categorise music under a million different g
enres, and it doesn't fall into my staple set of Rock, Pop, R+B, Country or Classical.
In describing the music, chaotic is the first word to come to mind (hence I've already used it in this review). The pace is oft fast and furious. Driven by Dave King's powerful drumming, which for the most part is a display of seemingly random chops and hitting as many drums as possible in a given time - possibly the personification of "overplaying", but yet the majority of the time it works.
The chaotic tone is also brought about by Ethan Iverson's atonal piano playing - in his solos it often seems that he hits the "wrong" notes, which to me is an integral part of the sound. Some have claimed that this is becuase of his incompotence and lack of skill. Yet I know for a fact that if I (a non-pianist) were to sit down and try to play these tunes, the wrong notes I would play would sound much worse than Evan's. In fact, I am quite confident that every note played is
intentionally so, and judging which "wrong" note to use is an important part of this music.
The covers are excellent - truly original interpretations of the songs (actually, I can only speak for Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart of Glass, as I have no knowledge of the original Flim). They have "lovingly deconstructed" them, and piece together their own arrangements which truly epitomises their style.
That is, with the exception of Flim. As I said, I am not familiar with the original, the the Bad Plus version differs from the rest of the album. It is more cheerful, less chaotic, and dare it be said - maybe even beautiful?
I'll let you be the judge of that. This track does however show that the playing and style can be varied, and in the future I would like to see the two styles mixed slightly more readily - the contrast would work well.
Anyway, this is just my Sunday morning ramblings on the subject. Your opinion can, and most probably will differ. Buy the CD and make your own mind up.
Amazon
But some months later, something happened. Suddenly everyone was talking about them. They have become, in my mind, a symbol of young modern Jazz. Whilst some hardcore critics shun them, and claim that it is not "proper" Jazz, I disagree. The music is soulful and musical, despite the apparent chaos, lack of rhythm and dischords. Now I don't know exactly what Jazz is - this certainly is not comparable to the likes of Davis and Coltrane - but to me, this qualifies. After all, what else could it be? I'm not one to categorise music under a million different g
enres, and it doesn't fall into my staple set of Rock, Pop, R+B, Country or Classical.
In describing the music, chaotic is the first word to come to mind (hence I've already used it in this review). The pace is oft fast and furious. Driven by Dave King's powerful drumming, which for the most part is a display of seemingly random chops and hitting as many drums as possible in a given time - possibly the personification of "overplaying", but yet the majority of the time it works.
The chaotic tone is also brought about by Ethan Iverson's atonal piano playing - in his solos it often seems that he hits the "wrong" notes, which to me is an integral part of the sound. Some have claimed that this is becuase of his incompotence and lack of skill. Yet I know for a fact that if I (a non-pianist) were to sit down and try to play these tunes, the wrong notes I would play would sound much worse than Evan's. In fact, I am quite confident that every note played is
intentionally so, and judging which "wrong" note to use is an important part of this music.
The covers are excellent - truly original interpretations of the songs (actually, I can only speak for Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart of Glass, as I have no knowledge of the original Flim). They have "lovingly deconstructed" them, and piece together their own arrangements which truly epitomises their style.
That is, with the exception of Flim. As I said, I am not familiar with the original, the the Bad Plus version differs from the rest of the album. It is more cheerful, less chaotic, and dare it be said - maybe even beautiful?
I'll let you be the judge of that. This track does however show that the playing and style can be varied, and in the future I would like to see the two styles mixed slightly more readily - the contrast would work well.
Anyway, this is just my Sunday morning ramblings on the subject. Your opinion can, and most probably will differ. Buy the CD and make your own mind up.
Amazon
posted by shfbbm at 1:51 PM
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