For All I Care (With Wendy Lewis)

...you cannot help but admire the album. The arrangements are well crafted, modulating back and forth between loosely controlled chaos and the well tuned group sound we all know and love.

That's a trick confession; this is really the only covers album I own. However, I think that some of the Bad Plus' versions of these songs are among the best covers I've ever heard, period. "Comfortably Numb" is really amazing. The part that always gets me is the second chorus of the song. Ethan Iverson's piano trailing out of time of the rest of the band creates so much tension. In the second half of this chorus, when the band starts modulating chromatically, it just feels like the song is about to run off the tracks. It builds beautifully to the climactic: "I have become, comfortably numb..." Their version of "Radio Cure" is also very beautiful. Wendy Lewis' range is unbelievable on this track! This version starts very minimal, bass and vocals. It then terraces up dramatically to the chorus. A really weird instrumental development, leads back into the chorus to bring this track home. My favorite of the whole album is "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate". I can't even really describe it. Just Buy the album!

I saw them live at Berklee Performance Center. They are monsters without Wendy, but when she comes in and adds the subtle touch to the music. It takes off. She never steps on their feet and that's vital but at the same time when she sings it's as if there's another instrument to the band as opposed to a vocalist. She's atmospheric, melodic, and I really love it. I'd love to have another album half instrumental, half with Wendy. Key moments for me on this album are "Lithium" (particularly when Wendy comes in with the in key 'yeahs' after the band has spun out in free territory for a while), "Radio Cure", "Barracuda", and "Comfortably Numb". They're all stand outs but those are sticking currently. There's a lot going on here and this band might really break into a good audience with this, it's piqued interest in my friends who weren't much of fans before. And it made them regret missing the show. Rocker, jazzer, or just into new music? Demo then buy a couple tracks and go form there.

junk junk junk. vocals way worse than one would expect. welcome to the "new age" of bad plus. not a good thing.

The Bad Plus is one of my favorite bands. But I'm afraid they've gone in a disappointing direction with this album. Every artist must experiment, but not every experiment works. This exploration takes them to place I'm less interested in.

Its Dave King, not Dan King.

As a longtime fan of The Bad Plus I was eagerly awaiting their latest release. To be honest, I was not too thrilled about the decision to include a vocalist, as that has many times been a detriment to otherwise good instrumental groups. And unfortunately my worry was not without merit: while Wendy Lewis' vocals are undoubtedly well placed and professionally executed, it detracts too much from the trio's unique take on pop songs, limiting their role to mere supporting background musicians. A few nice moments and a couple of instrumental tracks do make the album a worthwhile listen, but these guys can do better. Maybe next time.

I've been somewhat of a fan of Bad Plus for several years, picking and choosing songs from their past albums. IMHO, this album takes the band to a new level. Wendy Lewis's vocals weave a new instrument into the Bad Plus tapestry. Don't miss Comfortably Numb and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, but there really isn't a bad track on the album. My musical tastes run far and deep and jazz isn't one of my favorite genres, but it has been a long time since I have enjoyed an album this much. Well done Bad Plus, well done.

The drummer's name is Dave King, not Dan King, as stated in the section above. Very different, and more of a "careful" album by The Bad Plus. This shows that they are still going in different directions. Good album.

But it isn't their best work. The grooving Babbitt and Ligeti covers are probabably the best. Everything else is hit or miss. Some of the covers work if you view it as camp and on a few occations has sparks of brilliants. If for nothing else it will have people talking which was probabbly the point anyway.