Brandon mentioned the other day that he heard The Bad Plus‘ cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the radio, which prompted me to dig out my copy of These Are The Vistas.

If you aren’t familiar, to give you an idea of their influences, when asked about his ideal jazz festival by a Spanish jazz writer, bassist Reid Anderson responded, “First, it would not be a “Jazz” festival because I don’t only like jazz. I would have Radiohead, Bjork, Ornette Coleman, Guillermo Klein, Jason Moran, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Massive Attack, Bill McHenry, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Keith Jarret, Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, PJ Harvey, U2 and Bob Dylan. Probably a few others. It would be a pretty big festival…”

I’m by no means a jazz aficianado. I know what I like and what I don’t, and that’s about it, but I can tell you that I like Anderson’s tone…he has this nasty, rumbling, snakey thing going on, and I’m not sure how he gets it. The bass really comes to the front on “Keep The Bugs Off Your Glass and The Bears Off Your Ass” and bounces through “1972 Bronze Medalist.” If anyone out there knows anything about his gear and how he gets that sound, please fill me (and Brandon) in.