Recording of the Week, The Bad Plus, 'The Bad Plus'

Left to right: Chris Speed, Ben Monder, Reid Anderson, David King (Photo by Cory Dewald)

Last year, American jazz group The Bad Plus’ founding members – bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King – announced that the longstanding trio would become a quartet, with guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist Chris Speed completing their new line-up following the departure of pianist Orrin Evans. A prolific session musician, Ben Monder’s credits span everyone from Lee Konitz to Paul Motian and even David Bowie – he was one of the ‘local jazz musicians’ featured on the singer’s final album Blackstar. Meanwhile, the equally busy Chris Speed has worked with both Anderson and King numerous times over the years, either in his own trio or as part of the group Broken Shadows. Two close friends that Anderson and King have worked with for years now would seem like natural choices to join them for this new era of the project, as well as forging an entirely new sound for the group.

The Bad Plus as an entity has existed in some form for over two decades now, and although the trio was formally founded in 2001, Anderson and King’s initial jam sessions that led to this go all the way back to 1989. This first iteration of the group saw pianist Ethan Iverson joining Anderson and King, remaining that way for 15 years until 2016 when Iverson departed to focus on his own solo career - with the aforementioned Orrin Evans swapping in briefly before he, too, left to pursue different ambitions in 2021. Already at this point, Anderson and King began considering the possibility of an alternate line-up for The Bad Plus, seeing an opportunity for a fresh start and drawing a firm line under this new era of the band with another self-titled record (second after their 2001 debut).

(Photo by Elena Stanton)

We actually chatted to the new incarnation of The Bad Plus earlier this year in anticipation of this new self-titled record, which you can check out here, if you want to hear about it in their own words. And for sure, guitar and sax couldn’t be more different from the piano; these two new recruits bring an entirely different sound palette to the band’s music, this time entirely composed by Dave King and Reid Anderson. Anderson’s opening track ‘Motivations II’ sees the drum and bass holding down a subtle groove while Monder delicately peppers the arrangement with ambient chords, and Speed steps up to the front with a solemn saxophone lead; if this first track is a pitch for the band’s sound going forward, it hits all the marks.

Things then get pretty hectic on ‘Sun Wall’, featuring Monder and Speed playing unison licks off each other while King conducts the dynamics. Elsewhere on another King tune ‘Not Even Close to Far Off’ the quartet don’t sound all that far from being a straight-up garage rock band, between King’s tom-heavy backbeat, Anderson’s more straight-played bassline and Monder’s fuzzed-out rhythm guitar. While King’s compositions edge on the noisier side, Anderson’s tunes tend to be on the more tender side, as well as leaning more into his own melodic playing; the moody ‘Stygian Pools’ sees Monder eschewing the fuzz for softer volume swells, while the intro to ‘In the Bright Future’ is equally reflective with Speed’s trilling a welcome textural addition.

Occasionally the material leans away from melodicism, particularly on the tune ‘Sick Fire’ which quickly veers into absolute free-jazz madness with Speed just shy of some truly hardcore skronking, before King and Anderson pull the quartet out of the chaos and back to the head melody. Having this breath of fresh air in a new line-up and a new start, The Bad Plus proves to be as boundless a group as ever; they were already a highly individualistic piano trio, that’s only been compounded by the addition of different instrumentation, yet still retaining that signature rough-and-ready sound The Bad Plus has always been known for; eclectic, democratic, and ultimately incredibly listenable jazz. As Anderson and King put it, “We’ve evolved, but we’re still The Bad Plus.”