Ethan Iverson is best known as the pianist with the innovative piano trio the Bad Plus, but he had an extensive career prior to the formation of the group. Born in 1973 in Menomonie, Wisc., he moved to New York in 1991, where he took private lessons from Fred Hersch. Iverson made his recording debut in 1993 on School Work, matching ideas with Dewey Redman. He was the musical director for the Mark Morris Dance Group, performing with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo-Yo Ma. He has also worked with Mark Turner, Bill McHenry, Patrick Zimmerli, Dave Douglas, Billy Hart, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Charlie Haden. Iverson’s trio recorded Construction Zone (originals) and Deconstruction Zone (standards) during 1998. Iverson knew bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King when they were teenagers in the Midwest and they played together on one occasion in 1990, but the Bad Plus was not formed until 2000. However, after they played a weekend at a club in Minneapolis, it became apparent that the Bad Plus had something special. Since that time they have helped to revitalize the piano trio, performing rock songs as creative jazz but with the sensibility and spirit of rockers, achieving quite a bit of popularity and influence on the modern music scene. While the Bad Plus has been Ethan Iverson’s main musical activity of the past eight years, he continues occasionally freelancing, playing, among other places, at the Village Vanguard in a trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. from http://jazztimes.com
