The Bad Plus – Blunt Object Live In Tokyo

The Bad Plus – Blunt Object Live In Tokyo

A fearless live document from one of modern jazz’s most genre-defying trios, Blunt Object Live In Tokyo captures The Bad Plus at their most explosive and unpredictable - reworking pop, rock, and jazz standards through a lens of improvisational risk-taking and rhythmic intensity.

Known for dismantling expectations around jazz repertoire, the trio turns familiar material inside out, transforming songs like We Are The Champions by Queen and Heart of Glass by Blondie into tense, dynamic structures that blur the line between homage and reinvention. Even electronic-influenced material like Flim (originally by Aphex Twin) is reframed through acoustic interplay, emphasizing rhythm, space, and raw ensemble communication.

Original compositions by pianist Ethan Iverson and bassist Reid Anderson sit seamlessly alongside these reinterpretations, showcasing the trio’s dual identity as both composers and deconstructors of form. Live in Tokyo, their energy is heightened - tight rhythmic unison gives way to sudden abstraction, then snaps back into groove with precision and intent.

This is not jazz as background listening - it’s confrontation, conversation, and controlled chaos.

Tracklist:

1 We Are The Champions – 6:02
2 And Here We Test Our Powers Of Observation – 4:06
3 Guilty – 9:48
4 Do Your Sums – Die Like A Dog – Play For Home – 5:10
5 Heart Of Glass – 5:37
6 Flim – 3:53
7 Silence Is The Question – 13:07
8 My Funny Valentine – 2:33