The Bad Plus's Nontraditionally Traditional Jazz
By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 2, 2010 6:40PM
The Bad Plus returns to Chicago for the first time since last April's concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music, bringing their uniquely varied repertoire and top-notch musicianship to the University of Chicago Presents concert series this Friday.
On the face of it, the trio plays a quirky variation of jazz, having built their reputation largely through covers of tunes that aren't among the core jazz canon. The group's latest studio release, "For All I Care," is an all-cover album that includes songs by Nirvana, Wilco, and the Flaming Lips, among others. Our hypercynical brains might interpret such a varied list of pop music as touch-in-cheek irony - can't you just see the musicians half-smiling at each other during a rendition of the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love," followed by audience members turning to their companions to snicker knowingly? - but the reality is different. The Bad Plus is just doing what jazz musicians have always done: Taken music they like, regardless of genre, and made it their own. If you have any doubt about the Bad Plus's intentions, check out their version of "Iron Man" that, through flailing chromatic lines, big-toned low-range piano notes, and bass and drums that stay in lockstep through well-placed ritardandos, is actually denser, dirtier, and scarier than Black Sabbath's original. This is sincere music.
For good measure, the Bad Plus's also throws in high-brow music by composers György Ligeti, Milton Babbitt, and Igor Stravinsky (making a great argument that any "brow" distinction is only for those with superiority or inferiority complexes), although the truth of the matter is that despite all these various covers, the bulk of group's repertoire is actually made up of originals (all three group members compose). Just as with the covers, their well-written, economical songs feature tight ensemble work and improvisation that's more cooperative than the usual "you take a solo, now I take a solo" pattern.
Chicago's not getting the same multi-show treatment New York, Minneapolis (the group was formed there), or St. Louis (your guess is as good as ours) has gotten over the past couple months, so make sure to grab tickets and head down to Hyde Park this Friday.
Friday, February 5, at 7:30 p.m., Mandel Hall, 1131 E 57th Street, call (773) 702-8068 for tickets, $25, $10 students