The good minus

WORKING MEN Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson and Dave King, from left, take care of business on a new self-released disc.

Photograph:  Michael Dvorak

Say the word prog, and what immediately comes to mind is not musical innovation but half-hour solos and concept albums about hobbits. But the Bad Plus has never been afraid of taking calculated risks, whether it be touring rock clubs, issuing jazz records with surreal pop production values, or claiming well-worn hits such as “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “We Are the Champions” as fodder for radical reinterpretation. Over soft-shell crabs and asparagus at a Park Slope Asian-fusion joint, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Dave King—sans bassist Reid Anderson—explain why Prog, the band’s new album, has less to do with satin capes than with pushing the envelope.

“It’s progressive music, baby!” Iverson says, laughing. “It doesn’t mean prog rock. It’s fine if people take it that way, but this is not a prog-rock band.” Still, the group offers a version of the Rush anthem “Tom Sawyer” that’s respectful right down to King’s approximation of the drum fills. (“There’s going to be some Neil Peart fans that are going to take issue with that,” King says. “But once they see that I’m only playing a little Elvin Jones kit, they’ll love me.”) And Iverson suggests that “Physical Cities,” a romping, rolling Anderson original, is the closest the band has ever come to actual prog.

“Reid and I are old prog-rock dudes—as kids, we were checking out Soft Machine, Yes and early Genesis,” King says. “We realized that what led us to some of the more avant-garde musics, whether they be jazz-based or classical-based, was the door of prog rock. There’s a theatrical element, and it’s excessive. That is in the Bad Plus: the idea of being progressive, somewhat ornate at times, somewhat dramatic. We’re not afraid to acknowledge that.”

Ironically, Prog is the Bad Plus’s least extravagant record in years, a clean, powerful set that reflects the chemistry of a band that plays more than 150 gigs a year. That back-to-basics approach also symbolizes the trio’s indie rebirth following its break with Columbia, the major label that issued its three previous records. “The only instrumental act left in our division was Chris Botti, who sells a lot of records and has a starlet girlfriend,” Iverson says. “We asked Reid to get a starlet girlfriend, but he didn’t come through.” King adds, “He’s got to get different jeans. He’s wearing those Euro-guy jeans.”

The actual final straw came when Columbia issued the band’s last disc, Suspicious Activity?, with XCP digital-rights management software that left computers vulnerable to hackers. The Bad Plus was put into the unenviable position of warning fans not to buy the album. The discs were recalled and replaced, but the damage was done. “We believed in that record so much,” King says. “We toured it for two years, and some people didn’t even know that it was out. We would roll through a town a year later, and they’re like, ‘When did this come out?’ ”

One thing the Bad Plus actually enjoyed about its Columbia tenure was the label’s hands-off approach. “The thought of trying to form a new relationship with somebody, the thought of taking meetings, was dreadful,” Iverson says. “For Prog, we took out a small business loan and made the record on our own dime.” The trio has issued the disc under its Do the Math imprint, distributed by Cleveland indie Heads Up.

The group also chose not to work with Tchad Blake, the studio auteur responsible for its last three discs. “Tchad was a huge component in this band dropping some kind of bomb on the scene,” King says. “You put on [Columbia debut] These Are the Vistas and the shit is attacking you with a meat cleaver from note one.” The brash sound got the Bad Plus noticed, but fans and critics alike expressed surprise by the band’s careful balance and range onstage.

Seeking to capture its live sound, the group enlisted British producer Tony Platt, engineer of legendary sessions by Bob Marley and AC/DC. “We were really interested in documenting the dynamic swings that happen, the embracing of the extreme,” King adds. “We knew it was just time to make a record that sounded a lot different.”

Prog is out now. The Bad Plus plays Highline Ballroom Jun 30.