projects
Steven has a million things going on, including but not limited to his work in bands such as the Millennial Territory Orchestra and Sex Mob, soundtrack recordings, teaching gigs and various excursions in studios and on bandstands with other artists, furthering the glory of the slide trumpet. Learn about these endeavors below.
Came So Far For Beauty
Steven Bernstein serves as the bandleader for this ongoing world concert tour, conceptualized by Hal Willner and featuring the music of Leonard Cohen as interpreted by a galaxy of popular performers who have been influenced by the poet and songwriter, including: Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Laurie Anderson Perla Batalla, Nick Cave Julie Christensen Jarvis Cocker The Handsome Family, Robin Holcomb, Mary Margaret O’ Hara, Beth Orton, Lou Reed, Teddy Thompson, Rufus Wainwright, Linda Thompson and Martha Wainwright. The concerts formed the basis of the 2005 documentary “I’m Your Man,” by Lian Lunson.
Baby Loves Jazz
A new twist on kid’s music, this joint project of Steven Bernstein and producer Andy Hurwitz corrals an all-star lineup of formidable jazzers to rev up children’s songs like “Old MacDonald” (in which the farmer is recast as a hip bandleader) and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” The Verve/Forecast recording, “Go Baby Go,” features keyboardist John Medeski (Medeski, Martin & Wood), drummer Ben Perwosky (Dave Douglas, MTO), saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob), bassists Brad Jones (Jazz Passengers, Marc Ribot) and Lonnie Plaxico (Cassandra Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie).
Diaspora projects
Bernstein’s Diaspora projects explore the far-flung worlds of Herbew music as it bubbles up in unlikely contexts in a trio of releases on Tzadik. “Diaspora Soul” (1999) digs into “the Gulf Coast sound, encompassing Texas and Cuba.” Its successor, “Diaspora Blues” (2002) finds Bernstein in collaboration with the great Sam Rivers and his trio. The most recent edition, “Diaspora Hollywood” (2004) taps the inspiration of Jewish film composers such as Alfred Newman and Max Steiner, with a West Coast band that includes X drummer DJ Bonebrake (on vibes), baritone saxist Pablo Calogero, bassist David Pilch and drummer Danny Frankel. Fans have praised the recording as an exquisite excursion into “lounge mysticism,” redolent of noirish intrigue.
Millennial Territory Orchestra
The nine-piece outfit, which first came together in 1999 for a midnight show at the downtown New York club Tonic, features some of Gotham’s most original musical voices, wicked and well-traveled improvisers who tear into and savor Bernstein’s arrangements like the tangiest Kansas City barbecue. The vibrancy of the playing, the wit and sass of the arrangements, uncovers the genetic code that makes Bennie Moten and Prince funk-soul brothers of the first order. The group features: guitarist Matt Munisteri, bassist Ben Allison, violinist Charlie Burnham, drummer Ben Perowsky, multi-reedists Erik Lawrence, Doug Wieselman and Peter Apfelbaum, trombonist Clark Gayton and, of course, Bernstein on trumpet and slide trumpet. “Using the instrumentation and arrangement idiosyncrasies of the “territory bands” that roamed the U.S. midsection in the pre-big band era, Mr. Bernstein finds a way to unite the sexy groove of nearly a century of great music from Don Redman to Sly Stone to today.” – PopMatters.com
Spanish Fly
The trio of Bernstein, slide guitar mastermind Dave Tronzo and tuba genius Marcus Rojas was active between 1993 and 1997, recording three albums of subversive and surprising music some of which was used for the production of “Fly by Night” by the San Francisco Ballet. Spanish Fly started performing together again in 2005, and are working on a new recording project. The unusual instrumentation of this group has never quite been matched. “This trio defies genres, as well as gravity.” – SF Bay Guardian.
Sex Mob
A downtown NYC supergroup, this quartet features Bernstein, as ever brandishing his slide trumpet, along with alto saxophonist Briggan Krauss, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Long before Justin Timberlake, the band was “bringing sexy back” to instrumental music. The Mob has rocked every joint imaginable with its jukebox full of inspired cover tunes, which includes such icons as Prince, Sly Stone and the Beatles, as well as tacking the James Bond songbook, Duke Ellington and the Smashing Pumpkins. The band’s fifth and latest disc, “Sexotica”(Thirsty Ear) pays tribute to composer Martin Denny, in collaboration with producers GoodandEvil.
Steroid Maximus/Foetus Live
An ambitious collaboration with musical subversive Jim Thirwell, the downtown New York composer also known as the notorious brains behind more than 20 years of “Foetus” recordings (“Scraping Foetus off the Wheel,” and so on). Steven arranged the music for a 19-piece ensemble, which has been performed live around the world.