The Bad Plus lent us some time to talk about their latest excursion with their most recent addition, the brilliant pianist Orrin Evans. The latest album is titled Activate Infinity and has proven to be yet another creative boon for this prolific band. The music matches the moniker, redefining the concept of the piano trio yet again and working together beautifully. From the opening salvo to the final note, these melodies have anthemic passion and hypnotic charm that will sweep you away, be it the slower tempos or the ones on the upswing. One could say this outing could be the soundtrack to an older, wiser, and well adjusted Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang cartoon.
The Bad Plus continue to deliver the goods with originality and an off beat infectiousness that has the urgency of rock-n-roll. Which isn’t easy when you’re following in the footsteps of giants like Ramsey Lewis, Vince Guaraldi and Allen Toussaint, not to mention contemporaries like Noah Haidu and Cat Toren. Since we’re talking about tickling the ivories, the next half of the show will dive into the piano trio game. We’re spinning some Ramsey, rockin’ a little Toussaint, hearing some Haidu, and more. Continue Reading …
In episode 44 of Half True History, Dan Parrella tells Pedro Lima (and Chris Crespo) all about the Borgias, Italy’s most notorious family, with a Pope who oversaw the Jubilee of 1500, which of course featured, The Contest. This story is bananas and full of mysterious falls down walls and off bridges as well as more than one possible murder by poisoning so we hope you enjoy as you sit around with your own family.
Episode 136 of The Simon Time Trivia Show features three rounds of generalized trivia with several original categories!
