The Bad Plus

Twenty-one years after making their landmark debut as a genre exploding piano-bassdrums trio, the always adventurous The Bad Plus have reinvented themselves as a dynamic quartet with the addition of guitarist Ben Monder and saxophonist Chris Speed. This new iteration of the group makes its vital eponymous debut The Bad Plus (Edition Records) now, as always, challenging convention by pushing their inimitable approach to jazz in boundary breaking new directions. Though the components may have changed, what remains is The Bad Plus’s unique musical language and their undeniable drive and intent. Having recontextualized their own chemistry, The Bad Plus not only affirms the band’s continuing relevance and longevity, it burns bright on its own terms as an extraordinarily powerful debut from an all-new creative force to be reckoned with.