Photograph of The Bad Plus sourced from the EFG London Jazz Festival website http://www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

The Bad Plus / Bitch ‘n’ Monk, Village Underground, London, 17/11/2014 (EFG London Jazz Festival, Day Four)

My annual visit to LJF also entails meeting up with friends based in the capital and the surrounding area. The Monday of the Festival found me meeting up with exiled Herefordians Steve and Paul in one of my favourite London pubs, the Bree Louise near Euston Station. Steve is currently living in Kilburn, Paul had caught the train in from Colchester prior to going to see American alt rock act And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead at Dingwall’s in Camden.

Bearing in mind that we’d be indulging in a few beers (make the most of it I’ve heard that the Bree is scheduled to be bulldozed in 2018 to make way for HS2) I decided that the Bad Plus gig at the Village Underground rock venue would be the most appropriate Jazz Festival offering for me to attend on this occasion.

The Village Underground is a converted railway arch/coal store in the increasingly trendy Hoxton / Shoreditch area of the city. Arriving about half an hour before show time I sidestepped the snaking queues courtesy of my press pass but still found myself stood halfway back in the cavernous, brick lined venue. The event was a virtual sell out, providing ample evidence (if any were needed) of The Bad Plus’s ability to appeal to an audience far beyond the normal jazz demographic. For make no mistake this was a rock crowd, predominately young and with a good mix of male and female. There were a few other slapheads and greybeards around but by and large us old codgers were in the minority. The size of the crowd - it must have been a thousand strong- plus the enthusiasm of the audience reaction certainly justified LJF’s decision to stage this performance in such a venue. If jazz is going to continue to grow it must reach out to younger audiences and despite the fact that this wasn’t the ideal venue for my personal enjoyment of the music I applaud the fact that LJF is trying to reach out beyond the usual environment of concert halls and well established jazz clubs.

The Bad Plus are something of a phenomenon. Together with the fondly remembered E.S.T. they helped to transform the very notion of the jazz piano trio picking up a vast new audience in the process. Pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King brought an independent spirit to their music that rock fans could appreciate. They initially made their name by playing inspired instrumental cover versions of pop and rock tunes by acts as diverse as ABBA, Nirvana, The Pixies, The Police, Queen and Black Sabbath, their stunning version of the Sabs “Iron Man” even winning the approval of one Geezer Butler.

I remember seeing The Bad Plus at a packed Glee Club in Birmingham back in 2004, around the time of “Give”, still probably my favourite Bad Plus album. I remember the show as being wildly exciting and being impressed by Dave King’ s drumming, an irresistible mix of jazz precision and rock power. They closed with “Iron Man”, an inevitable crowd pleasing choice on Sabbath’s home turf.

For all the excitement of that live performance I’ve not always found The Bad Plus quite so convincing on disc. Here there seems to be an over reliance on rock dynamics and their music can lack the subtlety and sophistication of the best jazz. The blending of acoustic and electric sounds, the harmonic progressions and the mix of light and shade that distinguished E.S.T at their best are frequently absent in the music of The Bad Plus. The “loud, louder, stop” criticism that used to be levelled at Neil Cowley could also be applied to these three Americans from their country’s Mid West.

Since that Birmingham show ten years ago The Bad Plus have abandoned the rock covers that helped to make their name and now concentrate entirely on original material with all three members contributing compositions to the group. Tonight’s performance began with two pieces from the group’s 2012 album “Made Possible” , Anderson’s “Pound For Pound” and King’s “Wolf Out” followed by Iverson’s “Self Serve” from their latest album “Inevitable Western” (2014) as they shared the credits around and kept things nice and democratic.

Bassist Anderson dealt with the announcements in entertaining fashion, his deadpan American delivery blending surreal ramblings with a caustic wit. It’s just as well that he adopted the role of spokesman as most people in the venue probably couldn’t see his colleagues. I was unable to observe much of what either Iverson or King, both seated, were doing, - most of the time I could just see the tops of their heads. I have to say that this did rather spoil my enjoyment of the gig, I was pleased to note that Iverson had been given a proper grand piano to play and will concede that being able to see him properly was always going to be difficult. But surely it would have been a relatively simple process to set King up on a drum riser so that everybody could appreciate his percussive skills. Still at least in an atypical jazz crowd there were plenty of attractive young ladies in the audience to divert my eye.

The Bad Plus’ popularity lies in their way with a strong groove and their love of a catchy hook but for me they don’t always develop these in the most interesting ways and for all their technical skills the music can sometimes present itself as being rather too bombastic. However I wouldn’t say that their music is any way dumbed down, the tunes are still peppered with bouts of improvisation and the band are not afraid to introduce jarring elements of dissonance and atonality, they don’t do jazz solos as such but instead play as a unit, passing the torch around the various members of the trio. It’s a hit formula that seems to have been stumbled upon by accident rather than design (the early covers not withstanding) but there’s no doubting the fact that in this kind of live environment the band are more than happy to play to their strengths. Their more experimental side has been expressed on a recent album where they tackle Stravinsky’s daunting “Rite Of Spring” - but let’s not forget that the British duo of pianist Will Butterworth and drummer Dylan Howe got there first.

The trio’s new album “Inevitable Western” continued to be well represented with Iverson’s “Mr Now”, Anderson’s ” I Hear You” and “Do It Again” and King’s “Epistolary Echoes” and “Gold Prisms Incorporated” all getting an airing alongside Anderson’s “Seven Minute Mind” from “Made Possible”. If my review has descended into just being a bit of a list it’s because that in many respects these pieces became indistinguishable, characterised by solid grooves, snatches of melody and thunderous block chord climaxes from Iverson. It was only Anderson’s precise but humorous announcements that allowed me to differentiate between them.

The bassist also provided some musical light relief by singing the commercial for the band’s latest album ? copies available at the back of the hall. This combined with a closing rendition of “Physical Cities”, a track from the 2007 album “Prog” which the audience greeted as a “greatest hit” ensured that an enthusiastic crowd went home happy, job done for The Bad Plus.

There was much to enjoy about this gig but for me it wasn’t as good as it could have been, maybe I’m getting too old for this type of venue -  it was also stinking hot, like an oversized Cavern Club,  does that make The Bad Plus the “Jazz Beatles? Or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by seeing so many top class musicians close up in more intimate club and arts centre environments. However comments posted on the review of the same show on Sebastian Scotney’s London Jazz News suggest that some other watchers felt the same. Nonetheless the target audience for this gig seemed to love it and that can only be a good thing for the music as a whole.

Earlier support had come from Bitch ‘n’ Monk, the duo of flautist Mauricio Velasierra and guitarist/vocalist Heidi Heidelberg. Augmenting their sound with live looping techniques they delivered a quirky set of original tunes and songs, Heidelberg’s vocals combining lyrics with wordless melody lines. Bitch ‘n’ Monk mix jazz and folk influences with Colombian born Velasierra deploying vocalised flute techniques that borrow from Roland Kirk as filtered down through Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. With his use of looping and layering effects to augment his sound his use of electronica his playing also reminded me of Mikey Kirkpatrick, the artist also known as Bird Radio.

Heidelberg also uses looping technology to layer her voice, sometimes creating her own choral backdrop for lyrics that are capable of being both humorous and disturbing. She brings something of Bird Radio’s quirkiness and eccentricity into the equation but also sings with a disarming frankness on songs such as “Did He?” and “Worth Your While”, both sourced along with the essentially instrumental “Campus” from their d?but album “Fulafalonga”.

Bitch ‘N’ Monk were politely received by the crowd and were entertaining enough. However Heidelberg’s voice will be an acquired taste for many and for all the undoubted skill involved one still gets the nagging feeling that essentially “Bitch ‘n’ Monk are a bit of a novelty act. 

P.S.

The following night one of my rock heroes, Bob Mould played a sell out show at the Village Underground. Mould is one of the most consistently interesting and creative rock musicians of the past thirty years or so as part of the seminal Husker Du, leader of the short lived but hugely successful Sugar and as a much respected solo artist. I could have been tempted by this if I hadn’t been covering jazz events elsewhere. God, I bet it was LOUD but at least you’d have been able to see him.

Husker Du formed in Minneapolis and this was also where The Bad Plus first got together.
Isn’t the thought of The Bad Plus tackling a Bob Mould tune (how about Sugar’s “Hoover Dam”) a tantalising prospect? 
 

       

 

 

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