Jazz is often its own worst enemy. It gets stuck in this loop of academic reverence where everyone plays the same "Great American Songbook" standards, wearing the same suits, hitting the same polite applause cues. Then there is The Bad Plus. For over twenty years, this group has been the high-voltage wire of the piano trio world, shocking purists and inviting the rest of us into a sound that is loud, messy, and deeply intellectual all at once.
They’re basically a rock band that happens to play acoustic instruments.
You’ve probably heard their cover of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit." If you haven't, it’s a trip. It isn't some "jazz-lite" elevator music version. It’s a deconstruction. It’s aggressive. When bassist Reid Anderson, drummer Dave King, and the original pianist Ethan Iverson first hit the New York scene from the Midwest, they weren't trying to be "cool." They were just being themselves. And honestly? That’s what made them famous.
The Mid-West Connection and the 2003 Explosion
The story usually starts in 2003 with the album These Are the Vistas. This was their major-label debut on Columbia, and it changed everything. Before this, piano trios were expected to be polite. The Bad Plus? They were "loud." Not just volume-loud, but aesthetically loud. They took 80s pop and 90s grunge and treated it with the same rigorous complexity usually reserved for Ornette Coleman or Igor Stravinsky.
It worked.
The critics at Rolling Stone loved it. The jazz snobs at DownBeat were confused but intrigued. You had Dave King—a drummer who looks like he’s fighting his kit rather than playing it—hitting backbeats that felt like John Bonham, while Ethan Iverson played these crystalline, almost classical melodies. Reid Anderson held the whole thing together with a bass tone that felt like a physical weight in the room.
They didn't come from the traditional New York "jazz school" pipeline. They were kids from Minnesota and Wisconsin. That matters. There’s a specific kind of "Flyover Country" irony and sincerity baked into their music. They aren't afraid to be funny. They have songs named "Dirty Blonde" and "Keep the Change." It’s a playful defiance against the "jazz is serious business" crowd.
Why the Ethan Iverson Exit Wasn't the End
For seventeen years, that lineup was a monolith. It was the "classic" trio. So, when Ethan Iverson announced he was leaving in 2017, people panicked. Fans thought the band was dead. How do you replace a pianist whose style is so baked into the DNA of the group?
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You bring in Orrin Evans.
Honestly, the Orrin Evans years (roughly 2018 to 2021) were some of the most soulful the band ever had. If Iverson was "ironic and architectural," Evans was "earthy and explosive." He brought a Philly-born swing that pushed King and Anderson into new territory. Check out the album Never Stop II. It sounds like the band is breathing again. It wasn't better or worse; it was just a different shade of the same aggressive curiosity.
But then, because this band hates being predictable, they blew up the format entirely.
The Pivot to the Quartet: No Piano, No Problem
In 2021, they did the unthinkable. They dropped the piano.
For a band famous for being a "piano trio," this was a massive risk. They added guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist Chris Speed. Suddenly, The Bad Plus became a quartet. This shifted the textures from the percussive attack of the piano to the atmospheric, almost shoegaze-adjacent sounds of Monder’s guitar.
Why do this? Because staying the same is a death sentence in creative music.
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- Chris Speed: He brings a dry, focused tone on the tenor sax. He doesn't overplay. He fits the "minimalist-maximalist" vibe the band has cultivated for decades.
- Ben Monder: He is a literal wizard. He can play the most complex chords you’ve ever heard and then pivot into a wall of distorted noise that sounds like a jet engine.
The self-titled 2022 album, The Bad Plus, proved the concept. It was a 21st-century jazz-rock record that didn't sound like "fusion." It sounded like the future. The interplay between King and Anderson remains the heartbeat, but the new melodic voices allow them to explore longer, more cinematic compositions.
What Makes Their Sound "Bad Plus"?
If you're trying to figure out what actually links a 2004 Nirvana cover to a 2024 original quartet composition, it’s the Dave King factor.
Dave King is arguably one of the most influential drummers of his generation. He doesn't just play time; he plays the song. He uses toys, electronic triggers, and literal trash on his snare drum to create textures. He’s a maximalist. When you hear that frantic, polyrhythmic energy, you know it’s him.
Then there’s Reid Anderson’s writing. He writes melodies that sound like folk songs or hymns. They are simple on the surface, which makes the complex rhythmic stuff happening underneath feel accessible. That’s the secret sauce. They give you a hook you can hum, then they spend ten minutes ripping it apart.
The "Jazz is Dead" Argument
Every few years, some critic writes an op-ed saying jazz is a museum piece. The Bad Plus is the best counter-argument we have. They didn't save jazz by being traditional; they saved it by being "disrespectful" to the rules.
They covered Blondie. They covered Aphex Twin. They covered Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb and made it sound like a funeral march.
But they also wrote complex original music that used odd time signatures like 7/8 or 11/4 without making it feel like a math test. They realized that if you give people a beat and a melody, you can do whatever you want in the middle.
Essential Listening: Where to Start
If you're new to the band, don't just hit "shuffle." You need to hear the evolution.
- These Are the Vistas (2003): The big bang. Start here for the covers that made them famous, but stay for "1972 Bronze Medalist."
- Prog (2007): This is where they doubled down on the "rock" energy. Their cover of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush is a masterclass in how to adapt a synth-heavy anthem for an acoustic trio.
- The Bad Plus (2022): The new era. It’s essential to hear how they sound without a piano to understand that the "band" is an idea, not just a specific set of instruments.
It is worth noting that they aren't for everyone. Some people find King’s drumming too busy. Others think their early ironic covers were a gimmick. But if you look at their 15+ album discography, the "gimmick" doesn't hold up. You don't survive twenty years on a joke. You survive on chemistry.
The Logistics of Longevity
How do they stay together?
In a world where jazz musicians usually play in twenty different bands at once, The Bad Plus was always a real band. For the longest time, they didn't do side projects. They rehearsed. They toured in a van. They built a brand. That’s why their ensemble playing is so tight. They can anticipate each other's mistakes and turn them into features.
Even with the lineup changes, the "Leaderless Band" philosophy remains. They split the credits. They share the vision. It’s a democratic approach to avant-garde music, which is rarer than you’d think.
What You Should Do Next
To truly appreciate what The Bad Plus is doing, you have to move beyond just listening to their albums. This is music that demands a bit of participation.
- Go see them live. They are a touring machine. Their studio albums are great, but the live energy—especially Dave King’s chaotic stage presence—is where the music makes the most sense.
- Check out the solo projects. If you like the weirdness of the quartet, look into Ben Monder’s solo work or Dave King’s other band, The Dave King Trucking Company. It gives you context for the "ingredients" that make up the main band.
- Listen to the "Bad Plus" covers alongside the originals. Take a song like "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Listen to the Sabbath version, then the Bad Plus version. Notice how they keep the "spirit" (the heavy, plodding dread) while changing every single note of the arrangement.
- Follow the labels. They've moved from Columbia to E1 to Nonesuch to Edition Records. Each label change usually marks a shift in their creative freedom and production style.
The Bad Plus isn't just a jazz band. They are a reminder that genres are just boxes, and boxes are meant to be kicked in. Whether they are a trio or a quartet, whether they are playing Stravinsky or Tears for Fears, they remain the most vital, stubborn, and exciting group in modern improvised music.
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Go find a copy of Give or It's Hard, turn the volume up way higher than you think you should for "jazz," and just let it happen. It's meant to be jarring. It's meant to be a little bit "too much." That's exactly why it works.
To get started, pull up their 2022 self-titled album and skip to "Motivations II." It’s the perfect bridge between their old rhythmic intensity and their new melodic horizon. From there, work your way backward through the Iverson era to see just how far they've come. The journey is the whole point.