The Bad Plus Covers = Good

The band is taking a break from original material on the new LP, and is instead focusing on reworking some well-known and more obscure songs, including “The Beautiful Ones” by Prince, “Maps” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper. The album will be available Aug. 26.

Drummer David King, bassist Reid Anderson and pianist Ethan Anderson have been playing as The Bad Plus for over 15 years and critics have raved about the group’s willingness to take its music in new directions. It recently recorded an album with Joshua Redman and has a number of appearances with him this year.

Here is an example of how the band can rearrange a classic like The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take.”

The touring schedule includes six nights at the legendary Blue Note in New York, and festival appearances at Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., Chicago Jazz Festival and Blue Note in Monterey, Calif. The boys also jaunt over to the Ukraine at the end of August for a pair of shows.

Here is the plan for now until September:

July 30 – Newport, R.I., Fort Adams State Park (Newport Jazz Festival)      
Aug. 9 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 10 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 11 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 12 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 13 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 14 – New York, N.Y., Blue Note New York
Aug. 27 – Chornomorsk, Ukraine, Chernomorsk Central Beach (Koktebel Jazz Festival)
Aug. 30 – Kiev, Ukraine, Atlas
Sept. 3 – Chicago, Ill., Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago Jazz Festival)
Sept. 17 – Monterey, Calif., Monterey Fairgrounds/Pattee Arena (Monterey Jazz Festival)
       
Tickets to all the shows except the solo show in the Ukraine are available now. TheBadPlus.com has all the info you need on the trio.