Just when you get used to seeing The Bad Plus, they go ahead and try something new. The trio’s maintained its stage presence, replete with Ethan Iverson’s (piano) minimal stage banter, Reid Anderson’s (bass) hunched posture, and David King’s (drums) comical antics. Premiering almost all new and previously-unreleased music at the North Sea Jazz Festival (save for one song), The Bad Plus continue to prove that they are in control of their artistic direction and identity.
The set opened with
A grinning Lewis shuffled out from backstage, and grabbed the mic to start singing Nirvana's "Lithium." This was part lounge cover (the verses stripped down to a bassline, sidesticks, and Lewis' husky and pleading voice) and part rock song (Iverson kicked in with thick, dissonant riffs to replace Cobain's refrain of 'Yeah's). The crowd was shocked, but pleasantly so. The quartet continued with Bobby Vinton’s "Blue Velvet and the BeeGees hit, "How Deep Is Your Love". The arrangements proved exciting but still tinged with the Bad Plus’s inclination for chaos and non-traditional harmony. One of the most exciting numbers was a gripping version of U2’s “New Years Day,” featuring Lewis howling as emotionally as Bono. Iverson keyed out the main theme (originally played on a guitar dripping with reverb and other effects), successively transposing it down until it spiraled into another verse sung beautifully by Lewis. King’s presence on the vocal covers was most noticeably changed – he played quieter and saved his embellishment for sections without vocals. Other notable covers included Yes’s “Long Distance Runaround,” Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” (with Reid Anderson on backup vocals), and the Flaming Lips’ “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate,” which brought the dynamic level of venue up to a climax with a key change.
The band received a massive applause, causing Iverson to hesitate speaking into the mic;
No comments:
Post a Comment