It's in the opening moments of "I Hear You," the first track on
Inevitable Western
: the mercurial, mysterious, yet utterly musical sense of adventure that lies at the heart of
the Bad Plus
' sound. After recording the rigorous, mathematically challenging score for
Igor Stravinsky
's
The Rite of Spring
-- released only six months prior to this -- one can almost hear relief in the trio's return to its own universe. These nine tracks are equally divided compositionally among bassist
Reid Anderson
, pianist
Ethan Iverson
, and drummer
Dave King
. The bassist's aforementioned opener is a seemingly simple lyric stated by the piano but given a slightly quirky yet nearly processional tilt in its meter as
Anderson
illustrates the time as the drummer's syncopated accents add drama and humor.
King
's "God Prisms Incorporated" is a marvelous cut-time jazz illustration of post-rock song form.
Iverson
's pulsing chord statement rides atop the minimal melody, offset by the rhythm section's inventive interplay. A piano solo commences halfway through, stretching the notion of time, though the tune never quite abandons its interlocking grooves.
's "Self Serve" is a knotty, almost swinging post-bop tune, with gorgeous harmonic statements by
. The mutant classicism in the bassist's "You Will Lose All Fear" feels like it was simultaneously influenced by both
Charles Ives
and
Aaron Copland
.
's solo, full of bright arpeggios and forceful dynamic chords, is adorned by
's hyperactive rolls and fills. The set's longest piece is the drummer's "Adopted Highway." Introduced by a shimmering crash cymbal and a single piano chord, all three members engage in measured, dissonant stop-and-start counterpoint.
rumbles along the lower and middle registers as
's pizzicato lines exhort
to use his brushes aggressively in response. The tune unfolds very gradually, as free-flowing improvisation alternates with intricately written lines, building to a taut climax before gradually whispering to a close.
's "Mr. Now" is almost funky in its intro. His sharp, labyrinthine head is offered in short statements with
playing double time and
holding the center. It becomes a meaty, hard-driving exercise in modern post-bop, as all three members engage in spirited dialogue.
delivers a bracing solo in the final third. The closing title number, by the pianist, seamlessly melds jazz, classical, blues, modal, and great American saloon-style music in dexterous and lyrical phrases and rhythmic frames.
is a reminder that
are not a "piano trio" in any ordinary sense of the term, but a unit of strikingly different voices acting as one in expanding the boundaries of jazz. ~ Thom Jurek