Reid Anderson

Reid Anderson plays bass for the very interesting group Bad Plus.  He has at least three albums as leader that I have been fond of for some time: Abolish Bad Architecture, Dirty Show Tunes, and The Vastness of Space.  Right now I am playing 'Granada' from the first on that list.  Here is the lineup:

1. Ethan Iverson (piano) 
2. Reid Anderson (bass)
3.  Mark Turner (tenor sax) and
4.  Jeff Ballard (drums)

Iverson and Turner are the best known of the group.  Iverson sports a very unique style and has a number of excellent recordings of his own.  Turner is a fine tenor with a classical touch.  The cut is simply marvelous.  

I am also playing 'Imagination is Important' from Dirty Show Tunes.  Jordi Rossy replaces Ballard on drums. 

These three albums are a nice collection for your collection.  All, I think, are available from eMusic. 

Jazz Note 4 Extended

I have removed the previous two shows and extended the current show by another hour.  Here is a list of the additional music.  

1. Warm Velvet/Ivo Perelman/Sad Life
2. Seagulls of Kristiansund/Mal Waldron Quartet/Seagulls of Kristiansund
3. European Echoes/Ornette Coleman Trio/Live at the Golden Circle Vol. 1
4. Memphis/Ran Blake Trio/Sonic Temples
5. Abolish Bad Architecture/Reid Anderson/Abolish Bad Architecture
6. Laredo/ROVA/The Works Vol. 3. 

The Perleman record (1996)  is the sort of thing you will like, if you like that sort of thing.  A saxophone trio can be pretty dry, but this one is superbly recorded and you get all the flavor of the instruments.   The Mal Waldron number is just delicious.  A stretched out romance recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1986.  Almost as good is The Git Go, which is from the same gig.  Coleman's Live at the Golden Circle is a very strong sample of Coleman's playing.  I think he works very well in the trio format.  This odd bounce is interesting for the way Coleman's adventurous horn is easy to follow.  

Ran Blake is a fine piano player with a touch that can be both abstract and sensuous at the same time.  I highly recommend his album Short Life of Barbara Monk.  On this show I presented a piece from a two CD set: Sonic Temples.  Reid Anderson is the bass player with The Bad Plus, and has three recordings under his name.  All three are splendid.  


Finally, ROVA is an all saxophone group, with Bruce Ackley, Steve Adams, Larry Ochs, and Jon Raskin.  Their two albums The Works Vol. 2 and 3 are quite good and are available very cheaply on Amazon or eMusic.  Available very cheaply (under two bucks at Amazon) is their recording of Coltrane's Ascension.  I never warmed to Trane's version, but at that price I might give it a try. 

The Best Jazz You Never Heard: Reid Anderson

If you are looking for evidence that genius still inhabits contemporary jazz, Ethan Iverson's work is a good place to start.  I blogged on Iverson back in June (sorry, but the links have been removed).  Iverson has been most visible as a member of The Bad Plus, a very eclectic and unspeakably daring group including Reid Anderson on bass and Dave King on drums.  To get an idea of how daring they are, they walked away from a contract with a major label (Columbia) because they didn't like the anti-piracy shenanigans that Columbia was up to.

The Bad Plus recently appeared at the Village Vanguard, and you can download a recording of their concert from the NPR Village Vanguard site.  I haven't listened to it yet, or to their most recent recording For All I Care, which includes Wendy Lewis' sinuous vocals.  The group's most conspicuous feature is their treatment of pop and rock songs.  The new album has a version of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'!  And here is clip of the group performing Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man'.

Okay, but what I really wanted to post about tonight are three albums I have listened to, with bassist Reid Anderson as leader. 

Dirty Show Tunes (1998) with Iverson on piano, Mark Turner on Sax, and Jorge Rossy on drums. 

Abolish Bad Architecture (1999) Jeff Ballard replaces Rossy on drums.  

The Vastness of Space (2000), with Ben Monder on guitar, Andrew D'Angelo on alto, Bill McHenry on Tenor, and Marlon Browden on drums. 

All three are superb recordings.  You can't help but love the title of the second one, and the titles of many of the compositions are equally entertaining.  The jazz is at once very accessible and refreshingly unfamiliar in texture.  Turner's tenor dominates the first two, and I think his playing here is more compelling and brilliant than anything I have heard elsewhere.  Iverson knows exactly where all the acupuncture points beneath the skin of the melodies, and he plays with a penetrating and rejuvenating touch.  The Vastness of Space is maybe a little more edgy, but only a little. 

I really dig these albums.  As far as I know, Anderson hasn't recorded again as leader, so when you download them for eMusic, you have a complete set.  Here is a sample from each album:

Not Sentimental/Dirty Show Tunes

Todas las cosas se van/Abolish Bad Architecture

Foxy/The Vastness of Space

 Please, if you like this music, buy the recordings.  And while you are at it, drop me a line.