The Bad Plus

Want to hear some very interesting musical covers? Check out the band, The Bad Plus. They are a very inventive jazz trio that has done some really interesting remakes in the past. These are my favorites:

Tom Sawyer (Rush) - AmazonMP3 or

Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Tears for Fears) - AmazonMP3 or

Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) - AmazonMP3 or

Karma Police (Radiohead) - AmazonMP3 or

Check out more of their music here.


They also just released a new record. The ChordStrike blog writes:

Even for a band whose renown rests largely on its virtuosic approach to iconic cover tunes, the Bad Plus practically outdoes itself with For All I Care. Wilco gives way to Yes. The Bee Gees meet “Barracuda.” Igor Stravinsky (“Variation d’Apollon”) nestles up against the Flaming Lips (“Feeling Yourself Disintegrate”). This gymnastic set list derives much of its whimsical strength from the addition of vocalist Wendy Lewis, who joins pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer David King for the majority of the album. Any singer would be hard-pressed to match the lyrical touch with which Iverson usually interprets vocal lines, and while Lewis’s clarion voice commands attention throughout, it leads a handful of these tracks away from the compelling uniqueness that generally marks a Bad Plus cover from the get-go. (Skip Nirvana’s “Lithium.” Just skip it.) Nevertheless, this foursome is certainly more than just a band plus one. “Comfortably Numb,” for example, gives Pink Floyd a serious run for its--er--money. For Bad Plus “purists,” the addition of Lewis marks a love-it-or-leave-it sidestep in the group’s well established tradition of reverent, playful caprice. For those who happen upon the Bad Plus for the first time here, get excited: For All I Care follows four much better albums, so you’ve got a lot to forward/backward to.

And for a taste of the band's originals, check out the video for the song "Physical Cities." It's a heavily (but respectfully) edited version of the song, but it represents their compositional prowess in spades: