Did the math

St. Louis opened up its new year once again with the marvelous Bad Plus at Jazz at the Bistro this week. I caught the late set on Wednesday and both sets last night, and it just gets better each year! I’ve also had the pleasure of exposing at least 5 virgin sets of ears to the group this time. One of them was Michael, who called it, “Easily one of the best performances of my life!”

It’s always exciting to hear what they’ve been playing. They had just come straight form the Village Vanguard, where they played two dates this fall and winter; one I could have seen while I was in New York in October if they hadn’t sold out! As it is, I’m now humbly awaiting my pre-ordered copy of their new album ‘For All I Care’, out in February, which will feature Wendy Lewis.

The selection looks promising: it showcases everything from Nirvana and Wilco to Stravinsky, but curiously lacks any of their newer originals that we were privy to this week. Reid Anderson’s latest power pop-infused ballad “People Like You” made a friend of mine cry on her first listening to the group, and a new tune by Ethan with a title that escapes me now (something like “Who’s He,” “He’s Who” …throw me a bone here!) was exquisite.

The most powerful live performances came this time from surprise covers of staple avant-garde pieces: Ornette Coleman’s Song X from 1985 (played alongside their never-fails crowd-pleasing cover of Everybody Wants To Rule the World), Milton Babbitt’s Semi-Simple Variations, and my personal favorite: the György Ligeti piano etude Fém (Book 2 No. 8). The latter two originally-piano pieces sounded incredible with the addition of bass and drums, and although the improvisation only seemed to address the rhythmic aspects of each piece’s nature it fit quite well. Both the Ligeti and the Babbitt are on the upcoming album. My mouth is watering.

The Babbitt cover began a couple of years ago when this crude recording of it appeared on their blog after Ethan Iverson and Alex Ross appeared together for a Halloween program of “spooky twentieth century music.” My guess is the band has been touring and tinkering with it ever since. I wonder what Milton Babbitt himself thinks of this, but my gut tells me that he’d gawk at it if he knew. I don’t care, I like it, so he can eat it.

I asked Ethan about the collaboration with Ross after the show, and he did mention that there would be more performances to come. Hopefully plane tickets to New York will get cheap…!?! I also embraced the chance to thank Ethan for posting this wonderful tribute to Steve Lacy and Thelonious Monk which launched a great conversation about the breadth of Lacy’s discography. Now I have to find Trinkles, supposedly one of Ethan’s favorite Lacy recordings, on which Rosewell Rudd is at his finest.

~ by gnarlybuttons on 11 January 2009.