| · The bad boys of jazz offer up another reason why jazz and good ol’ rock ’n’ roll are meant to be together.
With their last album These are the Vistas, every jazz critic jumped to dub the Bad Plus either the worst of the new jazz tradition ("who the hell are these guys doing a Nirvana cover?") or the best ("the future of jazz!"). Love ’em or hate ’em, these guys were the "it" jazz group of 2003.
They’re back little over a year later and their latest offering Give takes the jazz genre and gives it a good beating. Much to the jazz community’s chagrin, recording engineer Tchad Blake is back. Blake is known for his work with such rockers as Los Lobos, Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow and Tom Waits and the sound is pure rock ’n’ roll. His production jumps out of the speakers – the sound is ubiquitous instead of fussy, the drums are meaty and the bass and piano are right up there in the mix – perfect for a slamming cover of the Pixies’ "Velouria." The unadulterated, beautiful noise of Ozzy Osbourne’s "Ironman" sounds like it was meant to be pounded out on a piano and double bass. What Give loses in convention is made up for in pure dysfunctional chaos.
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