A new video of The Bad Plus has recently surfaced in which they perform Abba's Knowing Me Knowing You. The Bad Plus has a remarkable way of engaging an audience with the sincerity of their stage demeanor, musicianship, attention to detail, and willingness to explore in sound. These subtle explorations are littered throughout their catalog, but in this video you can see and hear David King playing his drum kit in the opening section with a set of walkie talkies, and later Ethan Iverson motor boats his piano keyboard. Walkie talkie feedback has never been something I've heard as musical before but I'm glad I will now. As for Mr. Iverson's piano motor boating, he is doing this to disrupt the tonality of the composition by banging out tone clusters with his face. A juxtaposition I've also never seen or heard before. In secret, I'm going to practice this later on my piano.
Don't forget to check out The Bad Plus on itunes, facebook, twitter, and Ethan Iverson's blog Do The Math. You dig?