Improvisation, virtuosic, but fairly accessible combinations, and surprising dynamics comprised in two albums which will be played on Jazzy Hour on Thursday, at 19:00.

The Bad Plus - Inevitable Western

From the first moments of The Bad Plus meeting you get the feeling of certainty, significance, adventure and their music's mystery. The recordings for their album Inevitable Western found them in a well suited environment which helped them finish nine songs, equally divided between the pianist Ethan Iverson, the bassist Reid Anderson and the drummer Dave King. Once they've had their stormy, improvised beginning on various themes and after having moved on from their rigorously recorded version to the challenging Rites of Spring by Stravinsky, the three iconic figures played their own compositions in the same intriguing manner and surprising dynamic which puts the instrumental techniques and the improvisational flow beyond the standard aesthetics of jazz, with personality and influence. Regardless of the theme they approach, The Bad Plus developed an unique concept of group and sound, with a complex structure, explosive and well-articulated. Inevitable Western, the band's tenth studio album, goes beyond the concept of 'piano trio' due to the three different voices which sound as a single whole in the new fields that nowadays music has opened.

Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - Juice

For more than two decades, the keyboardist John Medeski, the drummer Billy Martin and the bassist Chris Wood, in their fascinating curiosity concerning the countless possibilities to explore the improvised music based on groove, they went both to private clubs and big festivals and their hard efforts were rewarded with remarkable collaborations. The most successful and prolific project is the one they have with the guitarist John Scofield, whose great personality features the most suitable tones to flow on a lively groove and mix with the powerful timbre of the Hammond organ. In 2014 they recorded ten songs for the album Juice, the fourth one since their debut in 1998 called A Go Go. The collection comprises some personal songs combined with few very well chosen covers, brought together by a dense rhythm with Afro-Latin and funk accents. Even from the beginning we get the feeling of ceremony and friendship; the musicians focus on a particular theme and then the rhythm goes along with the densest spontaneous compositions backed up by the natural and mature tone of Scofield's guitar, the balance of Martin-Wood tandem and the fervor of Medeski's analog instruments. Juice is an inspired collaboration brought to a climax as well as an amalgam of openness and virtuosity.