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The Bad Plus charm, frustrate with Yoshi's jazz show
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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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