The Bad Plus - These Are the Vistas
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Free Music Notes for These Are the Vistas
Free Music Review: Jazz or not jazz, I like it!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a very original modern new sound and I like it.
I also like Brad Meldua and Keith Jarred. But the presumption that you need to have their technical mastery of the instrument before you can play Jazz is nonsense. It's about originality. Jazz is not a sport and it's not about who is best. On the contrary it is about creativity and originality. Jazz is also not about purity so some contemporary influences should not put any real Jazz fan off.
This is a great album because three very original players created a great sound.
Free Music Review: These Are The Vistas
Hit: 4 Stars
I'd never heard of this group before until I saw them on TV playing "Physical Cities" from the Prog CD. I liked what I heard, listened to snippets from their work and bought Prog, Give, and Vistas. This music works for me. I can put this on when I'm piddling around in the house, at work, or in the car and it just puts me in a good mood. The standouts on this CD are Big Eater, Everywhere You Turn, Flim, and Smells Like Teen Spirit. I love they way that they transformed Teen Spirit into something that is equally as good as the original. Flim is such a lighthearted ditty, you can't help but think of sunshine and running through a field of flowers as it's playing. The piano crescendo on Silence Is The Question and the bass work on Guilty are first-rate. My only problems with this CD are the overdone improvisation on Heart of Glass, which literally ruins the song for me, and the chaotic noise of Boo-Wah. Free Music Review: Modern Jazz Done Right...
Hit: 4 Stars
Upon purchasing this album for the 2nd time, I'm glad that I did. I do have to say that you have to like jazz to really enjoy and appreciate this album though. It's not for today's popular music audience. It's also not for the fans of old jazz either. The covers of recent popular music hits (Smells Like Teen Spirit / Heart of Glass) are excellent tunings that provide enough differentiations to make them beat alone. This album has a weird and small audience so I'm not recommending it to everyone but to those few who enjoy modern jazz with a flair, give it a try and you won't be disappointed.Free Music Review: Dull after the first listen
Hit: 2 Stars
This might seem exciting at first, but when it come down to it, there's very little content behind this band's bravado and image. Even the name of the band seems to be shoving their 'coolness' down your throat. And that's just what the music is like, when actually, they're just not that good. This disc is at best dull, and at times it's quite messy and annoying.
If you really want to hear a piano trio that pushes out the boundaries of what's possible with that set-up, check out anything by Hiromi. Hiromi's stuff really puts this lame effort in its place.
Free Music Review: Jazz for indie rockers
Hit: 3 Stars
The Bad Plus have done well at promoting their image. If I didn't already know about them, I would swear they were an indie rock band. Their obvious image consciousness makes me wonder if they were ever in indie rock bands before. Also, their choice of material (popular indie rock songs and campy covers) was brilliant in attracting young fans. In fact, I was at their show and there seemed to be more young people looking around laughing and smiling at their covers than there were paying attention to the music, so that was an effective way to draw them in.
However, I think it's kind of a shame that they resort to cheap gimmickry so often. In fact, I would go as far as saying that they would not be nearly as popular if they hadn't covered "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (a very boring rendition, by the way). And the use of walkie talkies to produce feedback was pretty pathetic and didn't add anything to the music -just more cheap gimmickry.
This band gets WAY too much credit/press. Their popularity is more a result of clever marketing than it is great playing but that's the music industry for you. A lot of people are praising them for popularizing jazz again. It's great that they are attracting so many kids to jazz, but it's not like they are the first jazz musicians to play contemporary pop songs. If everyone continued to play My Funny Valentine forever, jazz would have been long dead by now.
Having said that, I will say that their original compositions are pretty good. And while I think they are all competent musicians, I prefer to spend my time listening to artists who play with more feeling. Maybe if they jettisoned the pianist and got someone with soul I'd like them more. This guy's playing is so sterile. He sounds like he came straight from the conservatory. I guess that's fine if that's your taste, but it's not mine.
I saw another review that compares them to Mingus, Rahsaan, etc. Now those guys played with feeling! Sadly, the Bad Plus do not.