The Bad Plus 'Blunt Object Live In Tokyo' album

The Bad Plus, the renegade jazz trio, will release Blunt Object Live In Tokyo, the group's eagerly-awaited live concert recording and first new offering since last year's critically-acclaimed Give.

Beginning Tuesday, April 5, fans of the Bad Plus--Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and David King (drums)--will be able to purchase CD copies of Blunt Object Live In Tokyo, available exclusively online at the band's website, www.thebadplus.com.

Beginning Tuesday, May 3, Blunt Object Live In Tokyo will be made available as a digital download exclusively on iTunes. On Tuesday, May 31, the album will be available for downloading on additional digital music service providers.

Recorded at The Blue Note in Tokyo, Japan in May 2004, Blunt Object Live In Tokyo features the Bad Plus--Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and David King (drums)--at the peak of the group's powers in seven previously unreleased live performances. The collection includes extended renditions of four Bad Plus original compositions; ironic and tender interpretations of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and Aphex Twin's "Flim"; and a radical transformation of Queen's "We Are The Champions," available for the first time on a Bad Plus recording.

As an added bonus for Bad Plus fans, Blunt Object Live In Tokyo includes the group's revolutionary rendering of the Lorenz Hart-Richard Rodgers jazz standard "My Funny Valentine." A highly collectible musical holy grail and subject of myth and conjecture on the part of band's fanbase, "My Funny Valentine" was recorded direct-to-stereo live in concert at New York City's Roulette in December 2001 and was previously available only on the band's limited edition self-released "Authorized Bootleg," now out-of-print.

Biography

Arguably one of the biggest jazz breakout stories of 2003, The Bad Plus--Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and David King (drums)--connected with the jazz world and beyond with These Are The Vistas, the renegade trio's debut on Columbia Records.

With Give, The Bad Plus explores the horizons intimated on These Are The Vistas and delivers the group's most satisfying collection to-date. On Give, the trio teamed up once again with Grammy-winning producer Tchad Blake, whose experimental signature sound has graced projects by Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Los Lobos, Tom Waits and Elvis Costello.

Recorded and mixed in October 2003 by Tchad Blake at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England, and co-produced by The Bad Plus and Blake, Give is the groundbreaking trio at its best. A formidable musical experience, Give is a rollicking sonic adventure with new compositions from each of the group's members alongside covers by the Pixies ("Velouria"), Ornette Coleman ("Street Woman"), and Black Sabbath ("Iron Man").

All three members of The Bad Plus hail from the Midwest: Reid and David from Minnesota and Ethan from Wisconsin. The roots of the group date back to circa 1984 when Dave first heard Reid sing in a junior high rock band. By 1989, Reid and Ethan were playing free jazz at restaurants throughout America's dairy land. While 1990 marks Dave, Reid, and Ethan's first musical encounter, the group's eponymous debut album was released in 2001 on Fresh Sound, a Spanish independent label. A 2002 performance at New York's Village Vanguard led to the group's signing with Columbia Records.

The group's major label debut, These Are The Vistas, was released in February 2003. The group then began touring in earnest, playing to ecstatic audiences in the U.S. and abroad, with glowing reviews from traditional jazz outlets and more: ("…a bolt from the blue--galvanic, improbable, discrete, unforeseen…" Jazz Times); ("****" "…bad to the bone, hot players with hard-rock hearts…." Rolling Stone); ("…among the freshest-sounding albumsof the year…." Newsweek).

"While we never expected the amount of press we received, we weren't surprised at the diversity of the press because we feel quite diverse ourselves," says Reid. "Our intention is to make music that is multi-layered, with many different perspectives contained within. While we love jazz, we never thought of ourselves as a jazz band. We don't think of what we are at all."

Extensive touring following the release of These Are The Vistas allowed The Bad Plus the opportunity to hone its collective chops on the road.

"I think it's so important to get back to working ensembles," says David King. "I think some really important, powerful music can come about when you align energies. It's about bands, to be in a band, to have a vision together, to be aware there's something magical underneath that you've got to pay attention to."

"The three of us compose and we're always bringing in new music for the band," Reid adds. "Getting a chance to road test the music provides us with a clear idea of the material to put on the record. Most of Give was a first take."

"1979 Semi-Finalist," "Frog and Toad, "and "Layin' A Strip for The Higher-Self State Line" (a tune which implores the listener to "smell burning rubber as Buddha rides shotgun") were written by drummer David King.

Another three compositions--"And Here We Test Our Powers Of Observation," "Dirty Blonde" and "Neptune (The Planet)"--were penned by bassist Reid Anderson.

Pianist Ethan Iverson contributed "Cheney Pi?ata" ("Our papier-mache VP filled with candy and treats instead of oil and defense contracts….") and "Do Your Sums--Die Like A Dog--Play For Home."

Rounding out Give are the covers: "Iron Man," "Velouria," and "Street Woman"--from Ornette Coleman's immortal Science Fiction album, a favorite recording of all three Bad Plus members.

Says Reid, "It's because 'Iron Man' is so unmistakable that we're able to take it pretty far out. Often, I think that when we do the covers, it's some of our strangest music. The fact that we're just three goofballs shines through--we can't avoid it and we don't want to--yet our deep seriousness to the music comes through as well. We're committed to exploring."

"I'm so pleased we covered the Ornette Coleman tune because we love Ornette's music," Ethan adds. "We play it in a way that could only be developed from performing it night after night. I've had some young people come up to me after a show and say, 'Wow, this is so great. I didn't know I liked jazz.' I used to feel weird about that, but now I feel honored and privileged. I've long known of the great beauty of improvised music and its long tradition---and now that person may one day even buy an Ornette record!"

Dave muses, "The truth of the matter is, we're three guys who grew up in the Land of SuperAmericas. We're friends and we're really fortunate that we get along so well. We are a combination of taking music very seriously, and finding the right petting zoo on the road."

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The Bad Plus - Blunt Object Live In Tokyo