Jazz Articles about The Bad Plus

50° Jazzaldia

by Luca Vitali
August 11, 2015

"Oltre 124.000 spettatori e più di cento spettacoli in programma a fronte di un eccellente livello artistico," sottolinea il comunicato stampa di chiusura di questa cinquantesima edizione di Jazzaldia -Heineken Jazz Festival. Come dargli torto. Uno dei grandi festival europei mantiene caratteristiche da festival “municipale," sempre attento al grande pubblico ma al tempo stesso capace di osare, senza troppi timori. L'ultima volta che c'ero stato, nel 2012, avevo avuto la fortuna di assistere a concerti imperdibili come ...

The Bad Plus: The Rite of Spring

by Enrico Bettinello
April 29, 2014

Dall'anno della sua tumultuosa prima parigina è passato un secolo e un anno. Da allora la Sagra della primavera di Igor Stravinsky ha attraversato i decenni continuando a dialogare con le musiche che l'hanno seguita. Il rapporto di questo capolavoro con il jazz--musica che, si sa, riveste una particolare importanza nella vita di Stravinsky, sebbene a partire da data posteriore a quella di composizione della Sagra --passa attraverso curiosi abbinamenti e riletture, cui si aggiunge ultimamente ...

The Bad Plus: The Rite Of Spring

by Dan Bilawsky
April 22, 2014

Calculation and risk, bombast and glory, a complete shunning of expectations, and a penchant for the provocative, percussive and dramatic. It's hard to know if that description is meant to be applied to Igor Stravinsky's most heralded work or the collectively-operated trio known as The Bad Plus; it's hard to make that distinction because it rings true for both. One hundred years separate the premiere of The Rite Of Spring, which caused a riot, and the recording ...

The Bad Plus: Burlington, VT February 16, 2013

by Doug Collette
February 26, 2013

The Bad PlusFlynn Center for the Performing Arts Burlington VTFebruary 16, 2013The Bad Plus' appearance on The Flynn Mainstage illustrated how much progress the trio's made since earlier appearances in the much smaller FlynnSpace. The surprising number of empty seats as the evening progressed hinted the performance bordered on the underwhelming, but that was a passing sensation as the concert progressed.The trio's half-hour jaunt through Stravinsky's “Rite of Spring," though ostensibly the feature ...

The Bad Plus: Never Stop

by Thomas Carroll
February 2, 2012

For the past decade, The Bad Plus has received both praise and criticism for its idiosyncratic approach to jazz-rock. Liberal jazz fans and those who are inclined towards the mainstream but want to dabble in jazz have enthusiastically received the band's modern piano trio reworking of rock standards such as Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Rush's “Tom Sawyer." Conversely, jazz purists tend to shy away from The Bad Plus and its backbeat-intensive and sometimes bombastic playing.Never Stop ...

The Bad Plus with Wendy Lewis: For All I Care

by Matt Marshall
February 22, 2009

The recordings of too many contemporary jazz singers teeter precipitously on a cliff overlooking the meandering river of easy listening. Jane Monheit and her ilk sculpt with cake-icing spatulas, decorating standards and new material alike with a thick sheen of creamy frosting. Those who might reasonably lay claim to being the musical descendants of Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong are, more than likely, singing rock.

With For All I Care, The Bad Plus asks, “What's the difference?" Following on the ...

The Bad Plus / Wendy Lewis: For All I Care

by Jeff Vrabel
February 4, 2009

The Bad Plus / Wendy Lewis For All I Care Heads Up International 2009

If you are The Bad Plus, and you've spent your acclaimed and wacky career dismantling pop and jazz tunes down to their barely recognizable components--spreading those components around like bike pieces on a garage floor and building them back together into a state that bears only occasional resemblances to its source material--it is not the easiest thing in the world ...