Onward, and outward, with the Bad Plus

The first song on the first album ever released by the Bad Plus was a cover of the Abba tune "Knowing Me, Knowing You," followed by a rendition of Rodgers and Hart's plaintive "Blue Moon."

But the gambit that really set tongues wagging was the trio's iconic jazz treatment of Nirvana's grunge anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit." It announced the Bad Plus as a band that was at once audacious and accessible, a group with enough nerve and chops to smudge the line between pop-culture kitsch and conservatory-schooled sophistication. Combined with compelling originals, the album generated a musical frisson that was unmistakably fresh and original.

That first disc was recorded Dec. 28, 2000. On the 14th anniversary of that signal occasion, the Bad Plus is returning to the Twin Cities for a four-night engagement at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis, a holiday tradition cherished by band and audience alike.

The confluence is fitting, because, as bassist Reid Anderson confirmed, the unique sensibility of the Bad Plus is a local creation, with roots in his childhood friendship with drummer Dave King out in Golden Valley.

"As kids, Dave and I talked about how: Wouldn't it be great to see a jazz band play songs by the Police? Or something else you could arrange for yourself but that the audience could relate to differently than a jazz standard? "

Add in the distinctive twist of pianist Ethan Iverson, a native of Eau Claire, Wis., who doesn't even remember hearing the Nirvana classic before the band began to tackle it, and you have the sort of "avant-garde popular" that Iverson says is his preferred definition for the trio.

The group created an enormous buzz with early gigs at the fabled Village Vanguard in New York, leading to being signed by Columbia Records, which put out "These Are the Vistas," a compendium of the band's first two independent releases, in February 2003. But what is more remarkable than that first burst of notoriety is how the Bad Plus has held tight to its early aesthetic while continuing to expand its musical boundaries and expertise.

"And although we care about very different kinds of music, it is all allowed in. No one says, 'You can't bring that in; it doesn't belong.' "

Case in point: Last spring the trio released yet another widely heralded collection of "cover music" — a wonderfully innovative take on Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring."

Five months later, the trio put out its 10th album, "Inevitable Western," with nine provocative and original compositions evenly divided among the three members.

Meanwhile, the group continues to spiral forward with a dizzying number of Bad Plus and individual projects. Iverson, who loves being steeped in the history of jazz, played in a band featuring the music of Lennie Tristano with Tristano acolyte Lee Konitz. He also performed and recorded with drummer Tootie Heath and maintained his long-standing membership in the Billy Hart Quartet. He is working on a project with bassist Ron Carter. ("Ethan is working through his bucket list of jazz partners," King cracked.)

Anderson has been busy writing his own long-form compositions that filter in electronic effects. The only conservatory-trained musician in the group — he has a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia — he premiered "The Rough Mixes" as part of the SPCO's Liquid Music series last year and is also writing for Golden Valley Is Now, a band featuring King and pianist Craig Taborn, who also grew up in that suburb.

Lest anyone fear that this will disrupt the ongoing evolution of the Bad Plus, each member unequivocally stated that the trio is the top priority.

The group has a record coming out with saxophonist Joshua Redman and has committed to do Ornette Coleman's opus "Science Fiction" at the behest of Duke University, which commissioned "The Rite of Spring."

And, inevitably, there is also the Bad Plus playing Bad Plus originals. For years, the group has used the end of the year as a series of residences at favorite jazz clubs — including a New Year's Eve gig at the Village Vanguard — to hone this aspect of its catalog.

At the Dakota, King can't help but look out at the audience and remember when he and Anderson and Iverson were among them, soaking up jazz from their elders.

"We know people make it a tradition, so we try to bring in some new things and a new program every year. One beautiful, heartening thing is the cross-generation groups of fathers and mothers and sons and daughters we see. We are proud to be a group where different people can get different experiences from what they hear.

"I can tell you with real humility that we are blessed," King continued, picking up steam. "But we have also fought for it. We know the key to anything that is this big of an art project is longevity. We have committed to a concept and a sound and a musical relationship. It is life's work that we are proud of, and we want to keep on throwing down as hard as we can.