Billed as “the loudest piano trio ever,” progressive postmodern jazz artists The Bad Plus have built a reputation on jazzifying classic and contemporary pop hits by artists such as ABBA, Black Sabbath, the Bee Gees, Queen, Blondie, Aphex Twin, Neil Young and Bjork. They also have been rumored to perform versions of seriously anthemic, lighter-hoisting rock opuses like Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Despite their stock of classic covers, the band maintains that these deconstructed gems comprise less than 20 percent of their total repertoire, and in fact, they’re quite juiced to be on the road promoting their latest release, PROG. A truly formidable unit of tight, post-fusion confusion, bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King ply their slick but experimental wares at Northampton’s Iron Horse this fall for all those who crave a taste of the obscure tempered by tannins of the familiar.
Dec. 13, $16/advance, $19/door, 7 p.m., Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686.