The Rite of Spring The Bad Plus

• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): First Part: Adoration of the Earth:
• 1 Introduction 05:06
• 2 The Augurs of Spring 03:29
• 3 Ritual of Abduction 01:23
• 4 Spring Rounds 04:52
• 5 Games of the Two Rival Tribes / Procession of the Sage 03:03
• 6 The Sage / Dance of the Earth 01:48
• Second Part: The Sacrifice
• 7 Introduction 03:59
• 8 Mystic Circle of the Young Girls 03:01
• 9 Glorification of the Chosen One 01:43
• 10 Evocation of the Ancestors / Ritual Action of the Ancestors 05:32
• 11 Sacrificial Dance 05:21
• Total Runtime 39:17

Info for The Rite of Spring

The Bad Plus has returned to Sony and signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music Masterworks. With a reputation for deconstructing popular songs and the avantgarde, it seems natural for the bad boys of jazz, The Bad Plus, to record their version of Stravinsky's controversial masterpiece THE RITE OF SPRING. This new recording captures The Bad Plus' unique version of the piece that they debuted on tour in 2011 in a multi-media program entitled ON SACRED GROUND: STRAVINSKY'S RITE OF SPRING.

he Bad Plus – bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King – have a well-earned reputation for pushing the limits on what is expected of a piano-bass-drums trio. The past 14 years have seen the genre-smashing band creating a distinctive repertoire of inventive original music, along with a series of iconoclastic covers of such divergent artists as Nirvana and Neil Young, Aphex Twin and Ornette Coleman. Now, with The Rite of Spring, the trio takes on one of the most influential works of the 20th century, a complex score fraught with revolutionary experiments in rhythm and metre, tonality and dissonance.

In 2010, when commissioned by Duke Performances at Duke University and Lincoln Center Out of Doors to create an evening-length work, The Bad Plus were reminded of their previous attempt at tackling a Stravinsky score when they recorded 'Variation d'Apollon,' from the composer's 1928 ballet, Apollo, on their 2009 release For All I Care. Emboldened by their past achievement, the group translated Stravinsky's notoriously demanding score for piano, bass, and drums. The trio holds fast to the original work -- its frenetic tempi, pounding percussion and jarring repetitions an ideal fit for a band well known for its rhythmic ingenuity. Electronic undercurrents in the opening movement – orchestrated by bassist Reid Anderson – are expertly used to conjure Stravinsky's insurrectionary orchestrations, bringing depth and counterpoint to the acoustic foundation. With their rendition of The Rite of Spring, The Bad Plus has managed to uphold the radical spirit of Stravinsky's modernist masterpiece while also furthering their own ambitious approach towards music, a remarkable feat that affirms the trio's preeminence as the one of the most adventurous and imaginative bands of the modern era.

March 2011 saw Duke's Reynolds Theater host the debut performance of The Bad Plus' audacious version of Stravinsky's score, dubbed 'On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.' The group performed The Rite 13 times in 2012, and then, in 2013 – the centenary year of The Rite of Spring's riotous 1913 premiere at Paris' Theatre des Champs-Elysees – The Bad Plus toured 'On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring' to universal acclaim, including performances in Ireland, Canada, Israel, Norway and the Unites States. That same year also saw the trio accompanying the Mark Morris Dance Group at the annual Ojai North Festival for the world premiere of 'Spring, Spring, Spring,' choreographer Mark Morris' acclaimed new adaptation of 'The Rite of Spring' ballet.

Reid Anderson, bass
Ethan Iverson, piano
David King, drums

The Bad Plus
Few jazz groups in recent memory have amassed such acclaim, and inspired such controversy, as The Bad Plus. For almost fifteen years, they have thrived at the intersection of jazz, indie rock and contemporary classical music, inspiring Rolling Stone to call them “about as badass as highbrow gets.” The Bad Plus’ 10th studio recording, Inevitable Western, sees bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King further honing the same conceptual base that fired their inception. Yet again they continue to explore myriad musical forms born of jazz along with any sonic source that forwards music that is uniquely The Bad Plus. Inevitable Western is an album where pop, blues, and folk meld with classic melodies and rhythmic innovation into that rarest of hybrids: intelligent music for the masses.

Booklet for The Rite of Spring