The Bad Plus are the ultimate originals. A democratic unit with a clear vision and a refusal to conform to convention. For the past two decades they have played with spirit and adventure, made their own rules and done so with a bold sense of creativity and intent. Avoiding easy categorization, The Bad Plus has won critical acclaim and a legion of fans worldwide with their unique sound and flair for live performance.
The Bad Plus & Marc Ribot and the Jazz Bins
Marc Ribot’s four months with jazz organ legend Brother Jack McDuff were his first ever with an internationally touring artist. Their 1979 itinerary included Ribot’s first concerts in Europe, and his only to date in Gary, Indiana and Rochester, NY. Although the two never recorded together (due to artistic differences that became apparent in Ribot’s later work…Brother Jack reportedly spent much of their stage time fixing Ribot with what side musicians referred to as his “death ray”), Ribot never lost his affection for McDuff’s music and the Hammond organ dominated Soul Jazz scene from which it emerged. Says Ribot: “McDuff’s US audiences—the so-called ‘Chitlin Circuit— were just the hippest in the world: sophisticated about the music, definitely…but also demanding the deepest soul while rewarding restraint in its expression. What this brought out in the musicians was every bit as intense as the music taking shape at CBGBs at the time. In fact, I always felt the two scenes had something in common, and I’ve been trying to express exactly what ever since.”