To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.
Album 99
The Bad Plus - These Are The Vistas
Drinking: Chamomile Tea
- "Big Eater": Has this really nice push/pull melody. In some moments the piano feels like it's trying to be a rock guitar which is pretty awesome. There is something in this piece that I'm enjoying even if I can't quite bob my head to the tune.
- "Keep The Bugs Off Your Glass And The Bears Off Your Ass": First, great title. It starts off with a tasty bluesy bass solo. It keeps bouncing between this honky-tonk piano and that bass solo before meeting up about a minute into the piece. I'd listen to this song on a hot afternoon sipping beers, watching the town go about its day. I get this kind of drunk feeling from this song. Big sound for a trio.
- "Smells Like Teen Spirit": A minimalist version of the intro which is then carried on through by the bass. I really enjoy how it weaves in and out of the famous four chords of the Nirvana song.
- "Everywhere You Turn": A very quiet, slow volume over a minute. Delicate like the oldest, thinnest glass in your grandmother's house. Other than delicate I can't find much to say about this track.
- "1972 Bronze Medalist": This track plays between a celebration fanfare and this tone that might be described as indignant, possibly terse, like someone trying to justify why they didn't get first place. The bass, drums, and lower registers of the piano carry the medalist fanfare while the higher registers carry the resentful, upset experience through the song. It almost sounds like that rushing feeling in your head when you've made a big mistake and you're trying to figure it out.
- "Guilty": Another delicate piece, but instead of delicate like fine china, this is delicate like the moment just before you say something you regret. Or perhaps it's just after you've said it and you're watching the hurt over the other person's face and you feel guilty. In another way, it sounds like you're watching something fall really slowly. This really captures the moment for me.
- "Boo-wah": This piece is much more frantic than some previous pieces. In the middle, where it bursts into this small samba-ish moment was my favorite until it quickly melted into this discombobulated frenzy. Not my favorite piece on the album. May grow on me if I give it further listens but for now I'll ponder its meaning over my cup of tea.
- "Film": A cover of Aphex Twin. While aware of this group (Aphex Twin, I do not know this track, so its accuracy (or lack thereof) is something I cannot comment on. It does have this cheerful innocent sound to it. "Film" is a great transition from "Boo-Wah" to calm the senses.
- "Heart Of Glass": A Blondie cover. right out of the gate it laws out its track in alignment with the original before segueing into this delicate version interspersed with some amazing and quick instrumental jams. It's really fun! It n the middle there are hints of the original struggling to rise above the frantic improv which makes those moments even sweeter. The song ends with this tasty Latin jazz cover (I'd listen to Latin jazz Blondie every day if it sounded like this).
- "Silence Is The Question": Another very quiet and delicate intro. A somber close, which is a little jarring after "Heart Of Glass". The piano work is beautiful though. Almost sonata in its performance.
Overall thoughts: There are a lot of great moments on this album. Some I certainly wish to revisit. Some are moments that I'm glad to have experienced but will leave it on first impressions only. A great start to this project.
Info: This album was in February 2003 through the Columbia Label, and produced by Tchad Blake. The Bad Plus is a jazz trio hailing from America that has been operating since 2000. There was Ethan Iverson on piano, Reid Anderson on acoustic bass, and David King on Drums.
Buy the album here
Listen to the album here
No comments:
Post a Comment