Well, I have to admit I still don't know what I think of The Bad Plus, even after experiencing the opening set of their weekend run at Yoshi's San Francisco.
At times, the young piano trio could be downright charming, as with "!972 Bronze Medalist," an original tune highlighted by pianist Ethan Iverson's nuanced keyboard work and delightfully narrated backstory.
The combo has one of the most self-actualized rhythm sections I've ever seen, with bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King shifting from foreground to background with ease and enthusiasm.
Structurally, though, their approach wears thin. They've replaced the vice of aimless soloing with the slightly less odious vice of aimless song deconstruction, turning every number into multi-pronged lesson in music theory. My patience wore out with a dissonant version of Blondie's "Heart of Glass," which came out sounding as if Liberace, Oscar Peterson and Gene Krupa were stuck in a room with one sheet of music and a lot of anger.
C-mon, guys -- even Sonic Youth plays a tune straight every now and then!
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Aaaaaaaaaaaand this guys irrelevant!
Meanwhile, critic David Becker made ample and effective use (in no less than two separate reviews) of strategically placed references to "art-rock" pioneers Sonic Youth in order to demonstrate a familiarity with the - hmm - edgier side of music (oooh!), as though this laughable and transparent gesture would validate his ignorant disappointment at a Jazz festival.
C-mon, man -- even Armond White varies his arthouse references every now and then!
Try not to get too hung up on your expectations of what the music should be and enjoy what it is. The Bad Plus play a great show man! What's this "I STILL don't know how I feel since they didn't really scratch the idiom itch that I normally like scratched." It's about trust. If you trust that they've got it (i.e. the ability to play "straight"), then you can let go and enjoy when they speak with their own voice and pointedly don't play it "straight." The Bad Plus have the chops, but most importantly they have the spine to walk their own line. Cheers, Mike (p.s. Jazz Lives!)
Compare Ethan Iverson with Liberace? You should have more respect and get some ears, man!
Sorry, guys. You still haven't convinced me that I enjoyed the experience. Or that there's much value in work that sacrifices all the immediate physical appeal of great music to make a purely intellectual argument.
As far as the Sonic Youth thing, they're the most striking example I can recall of an artist successfully using entropy as a creative tool. And name-dropping The Manufacturing of Dehumidifiers would have been obnoxiously obscure.
With all due respect, who is the one making an "intellectual argument" here? This kind of statement is problematic to me for a lot of reasons. That's your label, not the performers, and to reduce someone's music to saying they're simply trying to "prove a point" is missing the boat. Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys are simply making the music they want to make, and not trying to convince anyone of anything.
With all due respect, who is the one making an "intellectual argument" here? This kind of statement is problematic to me for a lot of reasons. That's your label, not the performers, and to reduce someone's music to saying they're simply trying to "prove a point" is missing the boat. Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys are simply making the music they want to make, and not trying to convince anyone of anything.
Open your mind dude.
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