The Bad Plus
Fontana Chamber Arts presents jazz, avant-garde, pop influenced power trio The Bad Plus tomorrow night in Kalamazoo.
With Dave King on drums, Reid Anderson on bass and Ethan Iverson on piano, this trio is shaped less like a triangle with keyboard on top, than as a circle of equals. It's been a meaningful and productive partnership, with 8 albums for The Bad Plus in 10 years and a worldwide touring schedule. The Bad Plus has explored collaborations with other jazz artists and singers in recent projects, but this tour celebrates the core of the band and their new album of original material. Cara Lieurance spoke with Ethan Iverson about the sound and mission of The Bad Plus.
[Ethan Iverson] "I think that we're interested in pop sensibility, and the avant-garde, and jazz improvisation. And some kind of clarity. Those are the elements that make up... I think it's an unusual sound in the group; I think everyone can tell it's us when we're playing. Reid Anderson has a song called "Never Stop," which is the title of our latest record, which I think is very clear and doesn't have much improvisation in this song, but it's definitely connected to a contemporary dance music. And then there's a piece of mine called "2 PM" - I have a sort of thorny melody and the improvisation is avant-garde, it's complete free. So those are two of the poles we like to explore.
[Ethan Iverson] "We're against some sort of jazz philosophy that wants to keep listeners away, and that does exist in the world. People sort of think that it should be an inner circle, that you need a secret decoder ring to understand it. And that's just not true, it wasn't true for Duke Ellington, or John Coltrane, or anyone else you'd care to name of the great jazz of the past. So it's confusing why it's gotten to this point now. It's a little too much self-involved sometimes. We're sort of against that, we try to take a stand and just say hey, we like this music and you'll like it too.
[Ethan Iverson] "We have diverse interests, and we bring in whatever we want to the band, and play things how we feel like, so it just sort of moves forward because we all believe in what we do, I think. But no-one gets to tell the others what they're supposed to do, which is I think important in this music. There are too many leaders in jazz anyway. People forget that Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Duke Ellington didn't tell the musicians they hired how to play, they hired the musicians for who they were. And that's a crucial thing. Now with so much jazz education and everything, everybody has their own little compositions and believe they're like Duke Ellington and it all ends up sounding quite the same, you know. Instead, all the influences should be allowed in and anything that's quirky should be accepted and celebrated rather than smoothed over into being the same stuff everybody knows."
[Cara Lieurance] What if, what if you're asked by Reid or Dave to support something that you really don't care for?
[Ethan Iverson] "Then I just do it anyway. I trust them that they're on to something and usually they are right, 'cause I'll probably like it by gig number two or three."
[Cara Lieurance] You do a lot gigs in a lot of places. Is that what helps keep The Bad Plus on top form?
[Ethan Iverson] "To play jazz you sort of do neet the crucible of live performance. We're composers, but the compositions only come to life with improvisation, all three of us mining the materials. It's just really a privilege that we get to be in this laboratory all the time."
"Getting Somewhere"
Former organic farmer and avid gardener Beth Neff of Constantine, Michigan has written her first book, a young adult novel called “Getting Somewhere.” “Getting Somewhere” is about four juvenile delinquents sent to work on an organic farm. WMUK's Rebecca Thiele sat down with Neff to talk about her inspirations for the book.
Beth Neff will be holding a book signing and writing workshop tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Bookbug Bookstore in Kalamazoo. Neff’s young adult book “Getting Somewhere” was released in stores last week.
Other Events:
Grab a pair of snowshoes and take a hike with Friends of the Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery Saturday night. The Latern Lit Snowshoe Walks will be at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the hatchery in Mattawan. You can rent snowshoes at the hatchery. The registration deadline is at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
If you would rather run, the second annual Polar Bear Run will also be on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m at the Gobles Snowmobile Club. Runners will do a 5K through a tree farm and part of the Kal-Haven Trail before heading back to the snowmobile club. Click here to register.
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra will be performing compositions by Camille Saint-Saens at Chenery Auditorium at 3 p.m. One of Saint-Saens more famous works is Danse Macabre. The orchestra will use breaks in The World of...Saint-Saens to talk a little about Saint-Saens’ life.
