Reviews > Shows

The Bad Plus With Wendy Lewis, Bowery Ballroom, New York NY, 2/17/09

The Bad Plus has been composing original arrangements as well as putting its own jazzy twist on a gamut of hit songs by well-known artists (Nirvana, Yes, Queen) for years, but something always seemed to be missing. That something was a vocalist. The progressive jazz trio—Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano) and David King (drums)—performed a record release show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday for its latest LP, For All I Care, an entire album of covers featuring new addition Wendy Lewis who sings on eight of the 12 tracks.

The threesome warmed-up with some instrumental tunes and opened with a take on Stravinskyʼs “Apollo,” followed by an original composition by Anderson, “You Are.” Throughout the night, King demonstrated the most animation onstage, frequently rising out of his seat and powerfully attacking his drums in a Bonham-esque rock and roll fashion, sometimes drowning out Anderson and Iverson. Other highlights of the instrumental set came during “Old Money” and “Big Eater,” both original Bad Plus pieces which erupted into freeform disorder, each member seemingly doing their own thing, eventually returning to recognizable melodies in unison.

Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for had arrived. Iverson emerged from behind his glossy grand piano and welcomed Lewis to the stage, as he announced that it was her New York debut performance. Leery first impressions were imposed based on her 40-year-old hipster image, but Lewis proved she could belt with the best of them. As she crooned her way through a long list of covers from Nirvanaʼs “Lithium” to a hypnotizing “New Yearʼs Day” by U2, fans couldnʼt figure out whether to head bang or to simply stand and listen closely. Some crept along slowly like “Blue Velvet” and “How Deep is Your Love” (The Bee Gees) while others raucously rocked, like the show stopping Pink Floyd cover of “Comfortably Numb” which had everyone singing along including Anderson as he backed Lewis during the chorus.

The group ended the set with an energetic cover of Heartʼs “Barracuda” and took a bow, but the applause did not let up. The four returned for an encore of The Flaming Lipsʼ “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate.” Lewis snapped a photo with a digital camera to document the memory of her first New York audience. Then, to everyoneʼs surprise, Anderson began singing the opening words of Neil Youngʼs “Heart of Gold” which soon became a duet between the bassist and Lewis. The two ended the song by singing the refrain acapellea, standing a few feet away from their respective microphones while the crowd fell deathly silent. King exploded on his kit one more time to end the show with a boisterous bang.