Ethan Iverson's photo of the Library of Congress' performing arts reading room. | courtesy dothemath.typepad.com

by Giovanni Russonello

When the Bad Plus’ ever-inquisitive pianist Ethan Iverson came to D.C. this weekend, he didn’t just play a gig and get out of town. He took the opportunity to explore this city’s downtown, and he’s got a great new post on his blog documenting the adventures.

The most interesting — and informative, since most D.C. residents probably had no idea about this — part of Iverson’s recap comes about halfway down the page, when he talks about finding the music division of the Library of Congress’ performing arts reading room (which, he points out, is open to the public and free). There, he ran into D.C. area native and famous jazz conservator Larry Appelbaum, who offered some tips on how to pan for gold in the deep waters of America’s public library. Read away!

Iverson and the rest of the Bad Plus were in town this past weekend to play the Rosslyn Jazz Festival on Saturday — and they put on a great show. A friend pointed out to me that the many small children in the audience at Rosslyn seemed to be loving the Bad Plus’ music, really grooving to it — despite the band’s pounding, relentless approach to rhythm that can seem oppressive if taken at surface value. But small children, always perceptive, clearly recognized that at its core there’s something deeply vital and earnestly playful about the way the Bad Plus make music. That’s why so many fans young and old keep coming back for more, even as the group celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

I’ll post a video from that festival shortly. Meantime, here’s a (now-outdated) preview from last week, featuring a revelatory video on the making of the Bad Plus’ new album. Speaking of which: that record, Never Stop, drops tomorrow in the United States! Pre-order it from Amazon.com on CD or vinyl.

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