Bobbin’ with Milton Babbitt
By Ralph Graves
Bad Plus is an interesting jazz combo. Interesting in the sense of hard to classify.
Case in point: they’ve taken a classical composition and arranged it for their trio. Now that’s not a surprising statement in an of itself. George Gershwin’s shared by both the classical and jazz worlds, and the rich harmonies of romantic and post-romantic classical music lend themselves naturally to improvisation.
But Bad Plus chose Milton Babbitt. Babbitt’s music is very complex, and for many people require several hearings to understand just what he’s about.
Not quite “I Got Rhythm.” Although Bad Plus supplies it (rhythm, that is). And choreography. It’s a refreshing take on a part of classical music that usually remains untouched by other genres.
