Sunday, June 29, 2014

AccuRadio Song Of the Day-The Bad Plus

Artist:The Bad Plus
Song:Physical Cities
Album:Prog





The best description of The Bad Plus is they are jazz rock fusion for the new millennium. They like to take chances. Ten years ago Columbia Records thought The Bad Plus could be a mainstream success. But that seems silly now. Physical Cities is from their 2007 CD Prog. Pianist Ethan Iverson is from Wisconsin and bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King are from Minneapolis. They first performed as The Bad Plus in 1990 but then did individual things before reuniting in 2001. They signed with Columbia in 2003. Their music is a mix of original compositions and jazz covers of iconic songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart Of Glass. And I guess that was the hook Columbia was going to exploit. After three Columbia CDs, The Bad Plus left and signed with Telarc's Heads Up label. The 2007 CD Prog was their first release on Heads Up. Physical Cities was written by Reid Anderson. But there are also covers of Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Life On Mars and This Guy's In Love With You. It's available as a budget CD. After two CDs on Heads Up, The Bad Plus recorded two CDs for E1. Their latest CD was released Mar. 2014 on Sony Masterworks. It is an adaptation of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring and probably their most adventurous CD to date. The Bad Plus just appeared at the Ottawa Jazz Festival and tour Europe next month. Here's a video for Physical Cities by The Bad Plus.

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