The Bad Plus - The Bad Plus (2022)

by Thom Jurek
For the second time in 21 years, the Bad Plus release an eponymously titled album. The first was their 2001 debut with pianist Ethan Iverson, who left in 2017. The Philly-based pianist/composer Orrin Evans, a longtime pal of drummer Dave King and bassist Reid Anderson, joined in 2018 for the albums Never Stop II and 2019's Activate Infinity before he himself left in 2020. As a result, the Bad Plus are a deliberately pianoless quartet comprising guitarist Ben Monder, saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Speed, Dave King, and Reid Anderson. The quartet spent the summer of 2021 ranging through the founding duo's compositions and developing a group sound that is at once familiar and evolutionary.
Opener "Motivations II" is introduced by a propulsive, woody bassline before drums and guitar create a blurry, brooding atmosphere. Speed delivers the fragmental melody. The quartet expand on the tune's tonalities in creating tension and striated dynamics. Monder's warm solo is elegant, alternating spectral chord voicings and single string runs atop King's breaking tom-toms. The 7/8 "Sun Wall" opens with a knotty post-bop head played intensely in unison. It breaks into a circular chorus that makes use of Ornette Coleman's celebratory melodic sensibility. Monder delivers an edgy, raucous solo just above Anderson's inquisitive bass pulse and King's double-timed, syncopated kit work; Bad Plus offer this as a vanguard take on fusion. "Not Even Close to Far Off," is an instrumental prog jam with metallic overtones. Speed's vamp states the theme atop Monder's filthy, distorted riffs as the rhythm section power groove them forward. The sax solo is almost narrative atop the crunchy backing. "You Won't See Me Before I Come Back" is a midtempo jazz-rock ballad that alternately recalls Bill Frisell's tenure at ECM -- a la Rambler -- and the economic elegance of Monder's former boss Paul Motian circa Story of Maryam. "Sick Fire" commences with knotty, vanguard post-bop before ratcheting itself into fiery abstraction with skronky solos from Speed and Monder above wonky, dissonant chords from Anderson and constant rolling from King. "Stygian Pools" is a midtempo, minor-key ballad with energetic, harmonically resonant soloing from Speed. The intro to "In the Bright Future" is as reflective as it is sprawling. When the band gel, they establish a mournful yet dynamic straight-eight groove juxtaposing Eastern modes and prog metal. Closer "The Dandy" stitches together indie rock and loopy post-bop. The interplay between Speed's poignant yet elliptical lines, and King's splashy cymbals and tom-toms are framed by Anderson's massive woody, harmonic pulse and floating guitar chord. They erect a foundation for Monder's squalling psych solo before the band regroups in whispering it to a close. The Bad Plus offers a strikingly different sound and lineup, but retains its musical personality. The cooperative spirit, the canny interplay, the imaginative, boundary-less compositions and solos, and the dedication and sophistication to make music -- no matter how difficult or wide-ranging -- make The Bad Plus at once compelling and compulsively listenable.