The Bad Plus

The ever-adventurous piano-bass-drum trio, The Bad Plus, who spent their first 17 years with founding pianist Ethan Iverson collaborating with artists like vocalist Wendy Lewis and saxophonist Joshua Redman, have since gone through a couple of transformations. First, in 2017 when Iverson left, pianist Orrin Evans joined the band, and now, after 21 years of redefining the parameters of the piano-bass-drums trio, they have metamorphosed into a boundary-defying piano-less quartet featuring founding members Reid Anderson on bass, and Dave King on drums, with Ben Monder joining on guitar and Chris Speed on tenor saxophone. Their latest release, Complex Emotions (November 2024) shows the group continuing “to bridge genres and techniques while exploring the infinite possibilities of exceptional musicians working in perfect sync.”