NEWS

MAY 2012

hello the few.... the proud..... the most beautiful....... possibly slightly bored supporters of my musings!!! thanks for taking the time to read my little news page, transmitting from little hotel rooms or little firework stands on the sides of midwestern highways with wifi or little basement desks in minnesota................... or along the riverbank cafes in paris...........picturesque views of..............HOLY BALLS CAN YOU IMAGINE IF I MEANT THAT? the riverbank cafes of paris? the only thing cool about those is you can possibly run in to the guy who manages the bubba gump shrimp co. in the mall of america on vacation thinking hes doing some real parisian shit and tell him otherwise in a demeaning parisian tone.
the real paris is urine smell, dog shit and bad espresso but its somehow THE SHIT. I LOVE PARIS. coolest city on the planet. WHO'S WITH ME HERE? EVERYONE? YES EVERYONE. im mentioning gay paris because the bad plus is hitting good old europe this week and we are making our routine stop in the city of love! reid and i will be having a crepe nutella before the show and then we will slap each other in the face with our white gloves!! we love crepes with nutella!! we love urine smell!! please check the gig page for exact info! OK we just got done with a bunch of great gigs criss crossing the u.s. thanks to all the people who came out! we did 3 nights at yoshis in oakland! then 4 nights at u.c. davis in davis ca! THX COLLEGE KIDS FOR MAKING ME FEEL ANCIENT! i dont want to meet adults who say the words "i was born in 1991". damn! by 1991 i had already peaked as a drummer and gotten married! DONT SAY THAT TO ME YOUNG PEOPLE! I LIKE YOU BUT YOURE UPSETTING ME WITH YOUR YOUNGNESS.
then we went to nyc for a week at the blue note! thx nyc! 2nd hometown for the bad plus!! we had a blast and played lots of new music! DAVID TORN CAME OUT! TIM BERNE CAME OUT! CHRIS SPEED CAME OUT! BILL MCHENRY CAME OUT! DONNA LEWIS CAME OUT! DEBRA WINGER(yes that debra winger) CAME OUT! ARLISS HOWARD (full metal jacket ring a bell?) CAME OUT! NOAH HUTTON CAME OUT! MARK GULLIANA CAME OUT! DARCY JAMES ARGUE CAME OUT! ZACH MANGAN CAME OUT! why didnt wynton come? do i have to beg? am i too "loud" or "melodramatic" or "ok i guess"?????
COME ON!! THE BLUE NOTE HAS SALMON SALADS AND AIRLINE WINE!! COME OUT NEXT TIME MOTHER FU#%%$ERS!! FEEL THE MIDWEST HEAT!!
then we trained down to washington d.c. then flew to indianapolis then drove to chicago then flew to baton rouge then drove and flew to houston where we played the rite of spring! I WENT TO THE CY TWOMBLY MUSEUM AGAIN. impossibly good. also the rothko chapel. unreal. people meditating in pure quiet in front of purple black monoliths of pained paint. sounds like a saturday night at dali lamas miami crash pad.
I LOVE YOU ALL INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A GROUP. THX FOR CHECKING IN! AND THANKS FOR COMING TO GIGS CUZ THATS HOW I FEED MY KIDS.
DK

APRIL

hi my good friends......SPRING IS HERE!!! I AM RE BORN!!! I WILL PLAY THE DRUMS BETTER!!! I GOT THE B FLAT ON MY PIANO FIXED SO IT DOESNT STICK ANYMORE SO I WILL USE IT IN NEW COMPOSITIONS!!
lots of news!! the bad plus is in the middle of a west coast swing right now! we just had 3 lovely nights at yoshi's in oakland! thanks bay area for representing for team plus!!
we are at uc davis this week for 4 nights as well! come out college students!! we wont pepper spray you unless you interrupt our precious music with "your" needs.
HA!!
I AM BEING A FUNNY PERSON!! I DONT MEAN THAT!! THE ONLY PERSON I WOULD PEPPER SPRAY IS EVERY MEMBER OF FOSTER THE PEOPLE!!
ok enough of this. i have big news! the doc film about my two night concert at the walker art center 2 years ago is playing at the st. anthony main theater in minneapolis on monday the 23rd of april at 7pm as an official selection of the minneapolis/st. paul international film festival! congrats to the director noah hutton for making this wonderful documentary! it always feels good to know that this music can reach at least one person that owns a film camera!! it helps that noah is a super talent and a sweet guy. he and i will do a quick q and a session after the film and then there is an after party at astor cafe where my trucking band will be performing!!! live!! at 930 at the Astor Cafe!!! please come so i dont feel so silly about the concept of an after party celebrating super dense often difficult slightly atonal noisy odd niche nerdy musical choices.
COME OUT OR I SHALL BE FORCED TO FORM MORE BANDS!!
then the bad plus hits the blue note in nyc for a week!! come out nyc? its not like anything else is going on. I AM JEALOUS OF BANDS THAT HEADLINE COACHELLA. THERE I SAID IT.
i have never been invited there. the bad plus played bonnaroo in 2004 and it was a blast and 4 thousand people watched us play all that out shit and we thought it went over great and weve never been asked back or to any other big rock fest since. WHY DO YOU REJECT US ROCK AND ROLL PROMOTERS?? ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE POWER OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC THATS CAN BE BORING AND PRETENTIOUS?? WHY IN GOD'S NAME DO YOU SETTLE FOR THE MARS VOLTA WHEN YOU COULD BOOK THE GANG FONT? WE MAKE THEM SOUND LIKE THE CHUCK E CHEESE PUPPET HOUSE BAND. IF YOU WANT TO CELEBRATE PROGRESSIVE MUSIC THAN WHY NOT GO ALL THE WAY AND DO IT FOR REAL??
ok maybe it's not cool of me to say these things BUT I WANT TO FIT IN!! I WANT TO HEADLINE COACHELLA!! or at least play a small stage and go get a snow cone after the set with nice kids.
speaking of kids mine are doing well thank you! my son is dancing alot these days to michael jackson's fine record "bad" and my daughter is starting a website that directs people to thier favorite charities! more on that later. lets talk about ME!
ok lets not. THANKS AGAIN FOR CHECKING IN AND I TAKE BACK ALL THE NEGATIVE THINGS I SAID AND I REPLACE THEM NOW WITH LOVE. i love foster the people and mars volta i love foster the people and mars volta i love foster the people and mars volta etc etc.......................

DK

APRIL

hi friends.......hello?.........i think i'm gonna have to admit that maybe no one is out there. that wouldn't be a bad thing at all....it would make me face my fears of the internet being a lame way to promote your shows and art life. I DONT CARE! I LOVE PROMOTING THROUGH THE INTERNET! it beats the days when mike lewis of happy apple and i would be at the airport post office at 11:49 pm feverishly putting stamps on 460 post cards to our mailing list supporters.
LOTS GOING ON IN THE NEXT MONTHS!
first of all a big thanks to the people who came out last week to the bad plus shows in victoria bc and vancouver and tacoma. we saw whales on the ferry! we ate bad salads!
i had an espresso next to my kit at soundcheck and the sound guy kicked it over AND DIDNT APOLOGIZE! he got away intact by the skin of his frickin teeth.
WE PLAYED THE RITE OF SPRING IN TACOMA AT A LOVELY THEATER! our good pal and collaborator noah hutton was with us running the multi media aspects! FILM! LIGHTS! SHADOWS FOR MY FLEXING CLOSE UPS!
ok on to more news! the bad plus is finishing putting together all the elements of our new record due out in sept! the music was recorded last nov in upstate new york and we have been finishing the art and mastering and what not. it is titled "made possible" and we hope you all like it!
i also recorded my next record as a "leader" in an old church in minnesota with my super bad partner in crime matt linquist on mobile recording unit duty! matt is a dear pal and super sound talent (head of sound for first ave main room) and he scouted the joint and hooked it up! sounds like an old lp done in the 60's! it featured this music called "standards" ive heard about! so so exciting! my mates on the record are my deep homey and genius pal bill carrothers on piano, and the super heavy bassist billy peterson. we recorded in 5 hours and carrothers wore mirrored sunglasses the whole time. i said "bill.......this isn't a poker tournament it's a jazz record" and he said "same thing". i'm still thinking about that one.
look for that on the sunnyside label soon! OK THE BAD PLUS IS ABOUT TO HIT THE ROAD! please check the gig page for that and other live appearances! we hit the east coast for a little run this week then off to the west coast in april and then to nyc for a week at the blue note then on to the south etc! im excited to play the rite in houston in early may! houston has the amazing CY TWOMBLY museum and THE MARK ROTHKO CHAPEL! both are very heavy and inspiring.
OK ON A PERSONAL NOTE I CLEANED MY GARAGE FOR 8 HOURS YESTERDAY AND ORDERED MY KIDS AROUND AND KICKED THINGS AND BLEW IT OUT WITH A LEAF BLOWER AND FOUND DEAD MICE!
THANKS ELLA AND OTIS FOR HELPING THE OLD MAN! MY MUFFLER FELL OFF MY CAR TOO WHEN I WAS COMING HOME FROM THE GROCERY STORE!
i love you creative music supporters! stay safe and happy!

dk

MAR

hi beautiful creative music supporters and all around fucking nice folks. man i have alot to type. holy shiznit.
i am in a world title fight with a mid life crisis and im kicking its fu#$%$ing ass. i weigh 171lbs (4 lbs less than when i graduated from high school with a 1.9 grade point average) which means i'm trim and ripped and i drive a 1976 mercedes benz with a little more than a little rust on it because i drive it in minnesota winters and its only really worked for a little while but i look like a pbs, nova, paper chase watching mother fucker in it. I WILL ASK THIS ONLY ONE MORE TIME!!! DOES ANYONE WANT TO WRESTLE ME??? ive been watching college wrestling late at night on cable and wait.........does anyone say "cable" anymore?? side note: i want to bring back the innocence of motel signs that say "free HBO" on them. I think it would be funny if i stood outside a courthouse with an old motel sign that said free HBO and just check out the reactions. you know...as in HBO should be let out of jail. IM SURE I CAN GET A GRANT FOR THIS. THIS IS POST MODERN.
i saw the film "the artist". ok its great.
ive been painting again. here are some of the painting titles. "1970's bi-racial so as to be comfortable for white tv audiences peripheral character in semi political comedy show still life with fuji apples and fake italian modernist ceramics"
and "horse racing venue latrines in bold color essence" and "fuck it...... i like instrumental music sometimes".
and finally "i like george clooney but he says "eeeen" for "ing" when he's pronouncing "ing" words......without fail...no matter where the character is from and i really can't hang with that". i think i will show these paintings some time. should i?
I PLAYED WITH DAVID TORN AND TIM BERNE AND CHES SMITH IN BEARSVILLE a few weeks ago. so awesome. thanks people of bearsville/woodstock for coming out! it was fun to improvise for y'all. i imagined that the woodstock festival was actually a show that had all that promo but then none of those acts showed up and it was albert ayler and milford graves and milton babbit sitting at his mainframe and the shit fucked people up and took off big time commercially and then somehow FOSTER THE PEOPLE WOULD NOT EXCIST.
im headed to victoria and vancouver and tacoma with the bad plus this week. please come and feel the heat. we're gonna drop the heavy.....or some other 90's phrase on you lovely people. HOW COME NO ONE HAS COME OVER TO WATCH SWAMP PEOPLE? I AM NICE.
hey i should mention that there is a lovely film about the walker concerts i did in march 2010 by the great doc film maker noah hutton called "king for two days" that has just debuted at the big sky film festival in montana!! I HAVE HEARD THAT IT WENT OVER NICELY!
check out the site kingfortwodays.com if you want!
i think it will be appearing in more places soon and i am thankful for any attention being paid to this music. ok halloween alaska had some nice shows with the band "other lives" in the midwest last month. nice shows and big thanks to those who came out! then we hit eau claire wisconsin for a few shows and i taught a little master class at uw eau claire. thanks for having me and if im a master than delta airlines has their baggage scene organized!!! as in im not a master of nothin.
well i think that might cover it for now. i will put up a show update too!.......oh...my daughter is almost done with grade school and is a lovely young lady getting ready for the world of young adult land. shes gonna meet the challenge head on and i love her dearly. my son is now a purple belt in tai kwon do and HES 7 YEARS OLD. HE LOOKS LIKE ROBERT PLANT DID IN 1968 AND HES A PURPLE BELT............ATTEMPT TO FUCK WITH THAT...hes figuring it all out...i love him.
i love you nice folks too. thanks for checking in.
dk

FEB 2012

allright the heat is on motherfu%#$*ers!
i have some news........what you dont think i do???........you think im just sitting around watching pawn stars and listening to seal's first record?......
I AM BUSY WORKING ON STUFF. I AM A PRODUCTIVE PERSON. I AM YELLING. I GO TO THE GYM MORE TIMES A WEEK THAN I GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH MYSELF.
ok frIends.....the bad plus gave israel a thing or two to think about when we landed the rite of spring neatly on the red sea festival's head last week.....I ONLY MADE 3 MISTAKES!
thanks you lovely folks who attended! i then participated in a "jam session" back at the hotel. I am not the "jam session" type usually but i had a nice time playing!
people in the crowd were overheard saying to each other "i didn't know he could play swing rhythms and actual jazz" and "it appears that he can hold his sticks with traditional grip fairly convincingly and he owns brushes" and of course "he seems to almost know how to count 32 bar forms" and "he's a great wrestler".
THANKS ISRAEL FOR BELIEVING THAT I HAVE A FAIR TO MIDLAND KNOWLEDGE OF THE JAZZ MUSIC THAT HAS NO BEARING ON MY ACTUAL LIFE EXPERIENCE BUT I DO AN OK JOB OF FAKING IT OUT OF A GENUINE LOVE FOR IT JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE THAT PLAYS IT WHO WAS BORN AFTER 1955!! next up was the bad plus in st. cloud mn at the old paramount theater! thanks st. cloud peeps! what a nice theater and super nice people! my dad came up to the gig from minneapolis and he said "good job son..........clean your room". then he said "you sound like you have been listening to alot of ronald shannon jackson's decoding society on vinyl lately" to which i replied "fuck vinyl...... try cassette from vinyl transfer dad.........you never understood me"
ok then we hopped a flight to kalamazoo michigan where we rocked a lovely chamber music hall and then played a matinee concert the next morning for at risk youth! thanks great proud people of michigan! when the shit goes down the michigan folks are gonna be teaching all of us how to kill and cook squirrels im telling you what. thats not to say that they arent some cultured, refined people thats just saying that they know their way around a fucking gun barrel and a skinning blade that's all.
ok on the horizon!!!
THE DAVE KING TRUCKING CO IS GONNA BE HITTING AT THE ARTISTS QUARTER THIS FRI AND SAT FEB 3 AND 4 AT 9PM ALL AGES WELCOME!
do you want to feel good about yourself?? huh?? huh?? then come down and i will compliment you on your choice of entertainment. are you kidding me? you might consider doing some other dumb shit when you have a chance to see and hear erik fratzke play the guitar? seriously get it together and come down. erik fratzke is a 17 year collaborator of mine as well as the baddest cat to ever improvise with cut off short shorts and a tight robin trower jersey on.
then im off to play the bearsville theater outside albany new york on feb 11th with master guitar player david torn and super bad alto freak tim berne and tall great badass drummer ches smith. have you listened to david bowie for the last 12 years? have you seen films like "traffic"?? then you have heard david torn owning you.
then look out for halloween alaska in st. louis feb 6 and lawrence kansas feb7 and minneapolis at the entry on the 9th of feb all dates with oklahomas own "other lives". they are a great band who just happen to be opening up radiohead's american tour this year! well done chaps!!
thanks for asking us to come along and throw down!!
OK LOVLIES! KEEP CHECKING BACK!
love dk

JAN 2012

all right.......yeah..........that's what i'm talkin bout............yeah...........uh huh............cool...... yeah.........i feel you.........uh huh...........i hear you.........all right............yeah.....
ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!!! I HAVE GOT TO GET A FUCKING GAME PLAN FOR 2012!!
ok
first i want to thank all the nice people who attended all the gigs i did in dec and early jan!!!!
YOU RULE AND ARE MUCH SMARTER THAN PEOPLE THINK.
I started the month off in seattle with the bad plus performing our piece with the world famous mark morris dance group called "violet cavern"! we havent played this piece in 4 years and i was sweating it a bit but it went well!!
Mark Morris himself said i look "chic" these days.
ok then i went to nyc and did a week residency of shows with lots of projects.
first was duets with guitar master david torn at the stone. IT WAS AWESOME AND DAVID IS AWESOME AND YOU ARE AWESOME IF YOU CAME!
then david and I and the sax master tim berne and the young jedi pianist matt mitchell tore up the cool people club "rockwood" on the lower east side.
WE PACKED IT! WE GOT 60.00!! IT TOOK ME 2 HOURS ON THE TRAIN TO GET BACK TO THE FLOOR I WAS SLEEPING ON AT AGE 41. I DONT DESERVE ANYTHING SO WHY AM I YELLING? i keep it real that's why.
then the next night i played duets with my man matt mitchell at barbez in brooklyn. so fun to play with matt and to do the INDELICATE record live. thanks to the 14 people that came out in the freezing rain including my cats reid anderson and erik motherfucking fratzke. you both will be spared when i wield my mighty sword 2012 style. side note: does anyone want to wrestle me? im in a blue period and i need some shaking up. i will kill you but it will be fun!! next my trucking band tore up two nights at rockwood! i love you members of trucking band! thank you for your generous hearts! you are true pals. then finally chris speed and reid anderson and i played a nice set at the stone. great turn out and so fun to play with those two masters. then my lovely pop band halloween alaska played a show at the cedar cultural center in minny and we had a great time. you are nice for coming if you came and i hope you dug it! ok then the bad plus kicked 4 nights in chicago! thx windy city for the love and good vibes! my kids came with and we tore it up! THE SHEDD AQUARIUM COST ME 220.00! THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BLED ME DRY! THE KIDS FOUND THE FUCKING GIFT SHOP! DAMN YOU MUSEUM GIFT SHOPS!!
then the plus hit minneapolis for 3 nights. what can you say about the motherland? love love love love.
then we did a week at the village vanguard in nyc. the other hometown! thx to the lovely "heads" that attended! then we went to st. louis for 4 nights and ended the run in witchita kansas!! they have a great donut shop there!!
we had a great time and love playing st. louis every year! my kids came again and they had a blast at the city museum and the zoo!! we saw a cheetah up close! my son said "i think he's pacing because he's bored" and i was reminded of the great Rilke poem "the panther" and i cried all the way back to the hotel. my kids asked "why are you crying daddy" and i said "because drum magazines won't put me on the cover and also because i hate zoos and youre bleeding me dry with all these gift shops".

COMING UP: the bad plus will be performing in israel next week. we will be doing our rite of spring project! i hope i remember it! thats a long way to travel to fuck up music! and also chris speed and i will be doing a duet concert in tel aviv! get there!! then in feb im playing a show with david torn and time berne and ches smith in upstate new york at the bearsville theater! double drum beat down! ches is great and tall. he makes me look like fucking r2d2 when i stand next to him and im not short. im 5 '11 and im 6 '5 when im standing on the jazz critic bill milkowski's head. anyway I actually will be around alot in feb so if anyone wants to come over and watch "swamp people" let me know. I live in Golden Valley Minnesota right by the arts high school. THANKS FOR CHECKING IN AND I LOVE YOU. dk

DEC 2011

Hi folks!
Lots of insanely important news. So insanely important. So so so so so so so so pressing. So so so so so so needing attention. My artwork needs. My art needs your attention so so so so so so so so so so so so so much. I am doing a little NYC residency if you will Dec. 4-9 but before we get into that i want to announce that The Bad Plus is going to perform our piece "Violet Cavern" with the world renown Mark Morris Dance Group in Seattle Dec 1-3! We haven't played the piece since 2007 and i'm sweating it.
COME DOWN AND SEE ME SWEAT IT!
I should say a big thanks to the folks of Seattle who attended our Earshot Festival show there on oct 29th! We had a blast and we are looking forward to this quick return to your fair city.
Halloween Alaska finished our U.K. and Ireland tour with the great Anna Calvi and band! A big thanks to her great drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood for hooking that up and making us feel so welcome and appreciated! Thanks to the whole crew too! We enjoyed eating your catering the minute you guys went onstage!! Have us back and we will eat your food again!!
Well let's see........The Bad Plus has recorded our new record!!! We are excited and we think it will be out early next fall! please be on the lookout for updates!
NOW ABOUT THE NYC RESIDENCY. I will be playing shows Dec. 4-9 with different projects every night so New York better look the fuck out. Dec 4th I will be playing duets with the guitar soundscape master David Torn at The Stone. On Dec 5th I will be with David Torn and Tim Berne playing trio at Rockwood main room at 11pm! Tim is a great mentor and pal and I always look forward to our hook ups!
Then I am bringing The Dave King Trucking Co. back to the big city for two nights Dec 6th and 8th at Rockwood little room at 11pm! Full band in attendance!! Then on Dec 7th I am playing duets with the great pianist Matt Mitchell at Barbez in Brooklyn at 8pm! We will be doing music from my record Indelicate again and some of Matts insane music. Please come out! And finally I will be back at the Stone on Dec 9th with Chris Speed and Reid Anderson playing trio! You must come see this! This show will feature actual swing rhythm!
Then I travel back to Minny where Halloween Alaska will play the Cedar Cultural Center on Dec 10th!
Thanks again for checking in and I hope to see you at the gigs!

NOV 2011

Hello from The Bad Plus fall 2011 Euro tour! We are on the train to Amsterdam from Paris as i am writing this and have been having a nice time! We were in Germany for a few gigs and will be hitting Sweden and then back to France before we are through. Thanks to the lovely folks who have attended the gigs! Oh yeah....Thanks to the motherfucker who stole my ipod, headphones and digital camera that had photos of my young children on it! YOU ARE A SUPER COOL PERSON AND IM GONNA KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT IN THE NEXT LIFE. SERIOUSLY.
OK on to the positive! I am gearing up for the big Halloween Alaska U.K and Ireland tour in November! We are supporting the wonderful artist Anna Calvi on her fall tour! It's the first overseas full tour for that band and we are excited to bring the ART ROCK to the island. Also in October The Bad Plus will be stateside in Boston and Seattle! Nice routing Bad Plus!!
I am also excited to announce a few Gang Font shows in the Twin Cities this fall! Oct. 26th we will be at the Nomad for their fall jazz series and then November 12th we will be opening for the legendary "Meat Puppets" at the Turf Club in St. Paul! Oh yes I want to mention that The Bad Plus is recording our new record in November! We have been playing alot of new music this tour and we will hopefully have it ready. We are very excited about this new batch of songs and can't wait to get them out. On the homestead side of things my son and daughter are doing well in their little Montessori school and are feeling the beautiful Minnesota autumn which lasts for 2 and a half weeks. They need to clean their room..........and the hamster cage.
Thanks for checking in!
DK

OCT 2011

Ok people that give a shit about my trials and fits and starts and boring nonsense and totally fully conceived heavy art decisions! NEW NEWS FOR YOU BEAUTIFUL GIVERS OF LIGHT.
I am playing a couple of benefits this week starting tonight Sept. 28th at the Kyber Pass restaurant in St. Paul. The owner, Emel Sherzad is an old friend and fervent supporter of the jazz and creative music scene in the Twin Cites with his KFAI radio show which is dedicated to the avant garde and experimental music. His establishment needs your patronage to make it and the food is amazing and offers the real Afghan dining experience you can't get anywhere else in town! First, I am playing with James Diers and James Buckley and J.T Bates and then Friday Sept. 30th with The Trucking CO. Both shows start at 9pm and are all ages! COME DOWN!! Then the Trucking Co. hits the Artists Quarter this Sat. night Oct 1st 9pm ALL AGES! Then Sunday Oct 2nd The Trucking Co. plays an outdoor event on Hennepin Ave for the grand opening Of Chef Jack Reibol's new joint at 4:30!! Jack was the head chef for The Dakota for years and years and is a dear friend! Come on out Twin Cities!!
My Daughter is getting her hair cut today and donating the hair to LOCKS OF LOVE charities. You should do the same people with hair!!! I DONT HAVE ANY HAIR. NONE. ZERO AMOUNT. JUST NOTHING.
My son is an orange belt in Tai Kwon Do now. look out for a roundhouse kick to the jaw if you are a bully in St. Paul. For real he will kick the shit out of you. KEEP CHECKING IN!! MORE CONTENT TO FOLLOW!!
Love Dave.

Locks of Love>>

SEPT 2011

Hello cute furry friends of the musical forests in the dark corners of the post modern, totally self conscious, pained art planet. I am going to say more shit about the goings on for any and all who care. Since we last updated I had a wonderful gig at the Saalfelden Jazz festival in Austria with The Bad Plus and special guest Joshua Redman. It was epic to play with that towering inferno of all things sax again and we had a fun hang. After the gig I had a nice talk about Van Halen's record "Women And Children First" with the fine bassist and all around nice guy Trevor Dunn. Then the avant drum master Jim Black spilled a tray of grapas on us. Not too smooth Jim. I should mention Jim and I had a wonderful "two drummers on one drumset" improv set at the Undead fest this year in NYC that was a blast! I hope we will do it again!! Halloween Alaska released our new album "All Night The Calls Came In" with a big show at the First Ave Mainroom the other night! Thanks to the lovely people who attended and we had a great time playing for you! Thanks to The Current and City Pages for sponsoring and promoting as well! More News: This weekend the 16th and 17th of Sept. I will be at the Artist's Quarter in St. Paul playing with the great pianist Bryan Nichols and my old mate and creative ally Anthony Cox on bass! Anthony is one of the great jazz musicians of his generation and a very nice man too. COME OUT TO SEE THIS. IT IS ALL AGES. Also The Trucking CO. has a few gigs. We play the Studio Z series curated by Zacc Harris on Sat. Sept. 24th in St. Paul with a 1pm workshop followed by an 8pm performance! Please come help this wonderful series get started on the right foot!! Then we are at the Artist's Quarter on Saturday Oct. 1st!! One night only all ages!!!
Finally The Bad Plus will be performing in NYC at the City Winery venue Sept. 19th and 20th!! DONT MISS IT NEW YORK!
On a personal note my kids are back in school and doing well. They came to the Halloween Alaska show at 1st Ave and stuck around for a bit of the after hours club hang.
Watching my 10 year old daughter dance to Joy Division was a wonderful thing. THANKS FOR CHECKING IN!!
LOVE TO YOU ALL!
DK

AUG 2011

Hello...........anybody out there?
OK if anyone really cares I shall post another update!
The Bad Plus finished a nice Italian tour last week concluding with a one-off show in Switzerland with the great band "Fly". Always a blast hanging with them! Thats Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard and Mark Turner's collective trio. I had a gelato in Sicily that im still tasting. You know something? The Italians know how to make good food. Is this new information to anyone out there? My god I hope not. How they all do not weigh 300 lbs is beyond me. All I want to do is eat when i'm there. I also went for a jog one day and was attacked by some diabolical fly species that tried to disembowel my soul. They were so vicious thats it's seriously not possible. I don't care if you're frickin John Muir you would have run away screaming like a jazz critic after The Bad Plus played the theme from "Chariots of Fire" at The Village Vanguard.
On another note The Bad Plus just finished our teaching residency at Stanford University this week! It was a blast and the students and faculty were all sweet, cool people. I GOT TO PLAY A CONCERT WITH JOE LOVANO!!!!!! I GOT TO PLAY TRIO WITH LOVANO AND GREG HUTCHINSON!! DOUBLE DRUM BEAT DOWN!! I GOT TO PLAY WITH MARCUS BELGRAVE AND GEORGE CABLES!! I GOT TO PLAY WITH LARRY GRENADIER, LOVANO, AND IVERSON IN A QUARTET!! I can't say enough about all those fine musicians! Huge hearts and huge talents. The shows were all deep and fun and awesome! The students were hungry and dedicated and super cool. THANKS EVERYONE FOR THAT!
My kids were with me and they tore up the hotel pool as well as the local frozen yogurt joint. They saw redwoods and banana slugs on a hike and they walked on the Golden Gate Bridge. THE KINGS LOVE YOU BAY AREA!! OK big news!! Happy Apple is returning for a concert at the Square Lake Film and Music festival on Aug 13th! We are "headlining" so don't go back into your tents because of the evening mosquito attacks or you will miss the post, post, post modern jazz party. Thanks to Paul Creager for including us! It will be our first show in Minnesota in a year and a half! WE CAN'T REMEMBER THE TUNES! WE HAVE TO REHEARSE! WE NEVER REHEARSE!
Now i'm getting ready for the duet concert of Matt Mitchell and myself at Barbez in Brooklyn on Aug. 17th. We are gonna play the music from my solo record "Indelicate" as well as some of Matt's amazing music! Come on down hip Brooklyn avant jazz people!
OK I hope this finds everyone well and let's hang on together ok?
Love Dave

JULY

Hello people of smart people land! You are smart and funny and interesting! For real.
Things have been busy over at the King shop lately. The Bad Plus finished some great shows out east and in brother Canada the last few weeks. Thanks to all the "heads" who "represented" for "avant garde populism". We played a great double trio show with Jason Moran and the great Bandwagon (Nasheet Waits and Taurus Mateen) for the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival thingy. It was "off the chain". Those guys are formidable improvisers on the highest level and we all have a good natured vibe together. The sound was like Ornette's Tone Dialing band meets Land of the Lost episodes playing backwards on a beta VCR through Henry Threadgils megaphone. Other news: The Dave King Trucking band made our NYC debut the other week with a show in Brooklyn and a show at the Undead Festival in Manhattan. New York Time Out picked the band as the NUMBER ONE thing to see at the whole fest!!! Thanks for that love!! The New York Times also did a great review of our show naming us a highlight of the festival! We also have a great review in the Sunday Edition of the New York Times on July 10th with a big picture! Not bad for some goofs from Minnesota. I guess it's only downhill from here!! The Trucking Co. record comes out July 12th on Sunnyside Records and is called "Good Old Light". Please pick it up if you have the balls. We have a big CD release weekend coming up at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul on Fri and Sat july 29th and 30th at 9pm all ages welcome!!! OK and the Gang Font is playing the hidden mysterious club Medusa this Saturday. Please come out!! all ages!!
Let's see..........My kids are in swimming lessons now and the wife LIVES IN THE GARDEN. I haven't seen her without dirty knees or nails in 2 months. She is a master gardener though and is going to go back to school in the fall for her horticulture degree! WE CANT AFFORD IT!!! PLEASE SOMEONE PUT MY SONGS IN YOUR FRICKIN TV SHOW!! YOU DON'T THINK SOME OF MY SHIT WOULD SOUNDS GREAT ON "TREME"???? OH THAT'S RIGHT..............IT DOESN'T SWING ENOUGH.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN LOVELY FOLKS WHO CARE!

JUNE 2011

Hello fine friends. I am in Sau Paulo with The Bad Plus right now where we have a couple of shows then off to California where Arnold Schwarzenegger lives a life of passion.
Hey I wanted to thank all the great folks who came out to our 2 night stand in Minneapolis where we played the Rite Of Spring. So great to have my hometown support!
I am using less exclamation points in these posts because Tim Berne told me I look desperate when i use a bunch of them and i think he was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also a big thanks to the peeps at Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin that came out to the Happy Apple show there a few weeks back. We have not played in almost a year and it was a blast to reconnect and make the same mistakes we always made. Look for a new record from that group this year!
Hey for those interested The Gang Font is returning to the stage on thursday June 9th at the Turf Club in St. Paul. GET YOUR CANDY ASSES DOWN THERE IF YOU WANT TO HEAR A BAND THAT MAKES MOGWAI SOUND LIKE COLOR ME BADD. I AM OPINIONATED AND COMPETITIVE......................THATS WHY I SAID THAT AND THATS WHY I AM YELLING.
Lets see............my daughter is about to finish 5th grade and my son is almost done with kindergarten! We have started a family band called "Dave King and the Kings" featuring Dave King.
IT'S MY MUSIC AND MY BAND.........AND THERE WILL BE NO REHEARSING WHEN SWAMP PEOPLE IS ON!
There is a raccoon living in the tree in my front yard. He has been coming to the back door looking for scraps. Should I blow his head off? Thanks for tuning in and see you soon i hope!

APRIL 2011

Hello. Well the Bad Plus made it back from Japan and Singapore. It goes without saying that our hearts and positive energy go out to the super beautiful Japanese people as well as anyone harmed by the recent disasters. We literally missed that by a few hours. Japan is a wonderful place and so supportive of Jazz and creative music. Not much else to say about that scene except all the love being sent that way.
The Bad Plus also just got back from Duke where we debuted our Rite Of Spring. It was thrilling to say the least and a huge thank you to all involved in the production as well as the lovely folks who attended! We also had a great session with the PHD candidates that we have been working with. All sweet guys and great pieces!
In the light of all the insanity being kicked up across the globe right now I will say thank you to anyone who checks in on my little bullshit site and a special thanks for giving me the opportunity to play creative music and support my family.
Love to all.
DK
P.S. The Trucking Co. is returning to the Artists Quarter in St. Paul this Fri. and Sat. at 9pm all ages!! Please come down!! New Tunes!! Good intentions!!

MAR 2011

Hello fine friends of weird overplaying drummers!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in Japan for the 5th time in my life and what can you say about this place?????? Super cool and frickin WEIRD. By the way has anyone out there tried the Whole Foods brand Barbecue Soy Crispies snack? INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try to eat only one serving size. Try hard my friends.
I'm here with a little outfit called THE BAD PLUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are moving on to Singapore next and I plan on loudly ordering a "Singapore Sling" at a tourist bar. Always order the local shit I say!!!!!!
Then I will proclaim loudly that I don't think caning is really a punishment!!.................Just ask a few of my ex's!!!!!!!!!! Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I might litter and spit at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enough of this cute "Dave King riffing" nonsense (I assure you I have a lot of sad downtime in between being really funny).
Halloween, Alaska is edging closer to the final mix stage of our new platter!!!!! The verdict is in.........................quite good!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a great show at the 7th St. Entry the other night so a big thanks to all the nice humans who came out!! Every time I play The Entry (first time in 1989) I think to myself "This is the exact spot that Paul Westerberg might have thought up some of his Disney songs!!". I'm fucking tired of so called punk lore. Ornette Coleman was more punk while he was rinsing his mouth with comped Scope at the Hilton Berlin wearing his worst polka dot 80's suit than any honky with a beat up Roadmaster will ever be. Can you dig?
Question: Should you eat the shrimp cocktail offered to you on a plane? I think it's ok.
Dave King Trucking Co. had our first Euro show last week in Brussels!!!!! Too fun!!!!!! Chris and Brandon did the sax geek hang (What? He uses that mouthpiece?? What a fool!! HA HA HA HA HA)!!! while Fratzke, Linz and yours truly (the cool kids) demolished a fine chocolatier. Good times.
My son Otis who is 6 years old said this to me as we went on a long cold walk the other day. "Daddy.....why does Rush sound like 5 people when it's only 3"?..........I cried with joy for 2 hours. My lovely daughter Ella who is 10 years old said nothing as she was bravely crossing very thin ice on a foot deep frozen creek bed.......more good times.
Ok i hope this finds everyone out there doing the exact thing they should be doing at the exact time they should be doing it and thanks always for checking in!!!!
New blog post up too!!!!! P.S. I like Paul Westerberg. He's just not very punk that's all.
DK

FEB 2011

Hello from The Bad Plus's Feb. European tour!!!! A big THANK YOU too all the lovely, well dressed Europeans who have come out to the shows!!!
We started in Bern Switzerland where the watches and chocolate flow like private bank accounts!!!! Every time i'm in Switzerland i ask random people on the street how much money is in their savings account and can i have the passcode. THEY LAUGH HARD AT THIS!!!!!!!!!!
Then we made our way to gay Paris where i enjoyed a crepe Nutella with Reid moments before our show.
Then to Austria and then back to Switzlerland and now to Prague for 2 nights. Prague is a great town to pretend your'e in the C.I.A. Then to Germany and then Copenhagen and then back to Switzerland where this time we are in Geneva where they have a nice convention center. Bob Newhart wrote me that joke.
Other news: The Dave King Trucking Co. will be playing our first European show on Feb. 25th in Brussels at a great festival run by a nice guy named Cis!!!
We also recorded our debut record and hopefully it will be out this fall!!!!! It's called "Good Old Light".
My daughter and my son and I went exploring around Theodore Wirth parkway near our house the other day and we unearthed a completely intact frozen raccoon!!!! This is quality family time. I urge any of you parents to bond with your kids over finding dead animals and setting them up in your yard like we did. Thanks again for checking in and I will have the blog up and running soon (it erupted under immense humor pressure).
Take Care!!
DK

JAN 2011

The Bad Plus made it through another great run at the Dakota in Minneapolis and the Village Vanguard in NYC over the holidays! Thanks to all the lovely people that came out!!!! We are currently in St. Louis doing our yearly four night residency at Jazz at the Bistro!! Thanks to all the great folks of St. Louis!! My kids are with me here and we are tearing it up!!! Sorry about breaking that juice bottle in the hotel lobby last night. Oh and sorry my son almost died on your treadmill!!! I promise his face looks like Rocky's because of that and not because of me. HE DID IT HIMSELF!!!!!!!!

OK well the big news is THE DAVE KING TRUCKING CO is playing an all ages show at the new Loring Theater (Formerly the Music Box Theater) in Minneapolis Saturday the 15th of Jan!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are flying the great saxophonist Chris Speed in from NYC for the shows of course and it's official that Saxophone Master Brandon Wozniak has officially joined the band so we have a two sax attack cocked and loaded!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? TWO TENORS??????? DOES MUSIC GET BETTER???????????........................no.

Please come down!!! doors are at 7pm and the show is at 8!!!!!!

OK thats it for now!!!!! Take care and thanks for checking in!!!!!!!

DK

DEC 2010

Hello from The Bad Plus U.S. tour!!! We started in Grand Rapids and have made our way to the west coast. THANKS TO ALL THE LOVELY PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME OUT!!!!!
We are out until the 20th of Dec. and are excited to play for Americans that are hungry for the modern jazz music!!!!!!!!
Also Halloween Alaska had a great show in Minneapolis on Nov. 27th at the Varsity Theater. Thanks for the great turnout!!!! Our new record is taking shape!! My daughter and son are excited for Christmas!! They want a few things. A Kindle. A sword. A desk. A light saber (a real one). A Cy Twombly Painting.........ok I want that.
OK I was playing some great drums by TPdrums out of Morgan Hill CA on the San Francisco and Santa Cruz shows. Todd Plummer is the maker and he's a genius with wood. Thanks Todd!!!!
Well, i hope this finds everyone doing what they need to do and please have a safe and happy holiday season. There is a new blog post by the way. Check it out!!!

NOV 2010

Hi from Dave!
On tour in Europe and the U.K. these last weeks.
Shows have been great!! Thanks to all who have come out and if you didn't then I don't know what to say. Why? Why didn't you come out?
Is it the way we play? Is it the tunes? Is it my attitude? I AM NICE!!!!!!!
Ok......Halloween Alaska will be finishing tracking the new record in the next two weeks!!!! THIS IS EXCITING!!!! I AM NICE!!!!!!
My daughter is done with the chicken pox!! My son has begun guitar lessons with the master Erik Fratzke!!! HE MIGHT NOT CHARGE ME!!!!! HE IS NICE!!!!
Let's see........I have been trying to find gyms on the road when the hotel doesn't have one. NOT EASY!!! I went for a run in Madrid at midnight the other night. The Spanish do not go jogging at midnight. They smoke and eat ham at midnight. I felt like I was a man alone. I have been getting back into shape the last 3 years after putting on some lbs in my early thirties. I think they call it baby weight. Wow i miss eating ham at midnight. I AM CUT!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM BACK TO MY ALLEY FIGHTING WEIGHT!!!!!!!!!
I took the drummers Jeff Ballard and Matt Chamberlain out to the great organic soul food joint Brasa, Ellis Drum Shop and Kopplins Coffee Shop when they were in the Twin Cities with Brad Meldau the other week. They freaked out at how good Kopplins is (a common reaction). The show they did at the Walker Art Center featured the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and it was great!!!!!
Jeff and Matt are homies and great guys and true masters of the drumset. They are also lighthearted goofs and we had some laughs. On that note please know the blog content is meant for fun and I AM NICE!!!!!!!!! Thanks for checking in!!!!!!!!!

NOV 2010

The Dave King Trucking Co. invades The Artist's Quarter this weekend Friday and Saturday Nov. 5th and 6th 9pm all ages!!
please come down!!!!!!!!!
The Bad Plus had our first run as artists in residence at Duke University last week. Thanks to all involved and we had a great visit and ate some great BBQ.
More on Duke to come.
A feature on the Bad Plus in the new Downbeat mag with PAUL MOTIAN on the cover!!!!!!! My hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My daughter has the chicken pox.
Halloween Alaska began recording our new disc las week. THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED on Kickstarter!! Very heartwarming!!!
Thanks to all who check in and see you this weekend i hope!!

OCT 2010

The Bad Plus has released our latest record called "Never Stop" on E1 Records in the United States and Universal Records for the rest of the world and we are touring hard on it this fall and winter. Thanks to all involved with the making and distributing of our 10th anniversary recording!! I'm excited that it's also available on vinyl!!!!! Wow, I wish we could convince Columbia Records to press the three albums we did for them on vinyl. That would be the bomb.

Also Dave King's Trucking Co. is gonna hit Europe in Feb/March 2011 so be ready for the alt/country/avant/blues/postmodern/noise explosion!!! Look for a record from that band in 2011. Hey, Halloween, Alaska enters the studio this month to begin our 4th record and The Gang Font has finished our new record so look for that once it finds a home!!!! Happy Apple still on hiatus and Golden Valley Is Now is strategizing for the future!!! Look for recordings from both in 2011. Buffalo Collision wants to tour again soon!!!! Any takers????

I am also trying to put together some live dates for the "Indelicate" music (my solo record) with the great pianist from Philly, Matt Mitchell (Tim Berne, Claudia Quintet). Actually all we have done is talk about it but that's how it gets started people!!! More to come soon on that front. My son started kindergarten and my daughter is in 5th grade now. It was only yesterday that I had to bribe them to give up their pacifiers. We had big birthday blowouts this fall for them. I'm still cleaning Tootsie Pop goo out of my rugs.

Thanks for checking out the site and remember that the acerbic/antagonistic nature of the blog is all in good fun until someone gets hurt....then it gets really fun : -) Yes I just made a smiley face.........you got a problem with that??? I was a high school wrestling champion. Don't forget that.