New York trumpeter
Steven Bernstein was music director of
John Lurie's
Lounge Lizards, co-leader of the trio Spanish Fly, and served as arranger and leader of the
Kansas City Band (from the
Robert Altman film and Verve All-Stars Tour).
Bernstein then began leading his own groups and recordings, as with his gritty cover band,
Sexmob, in which
Bernstein played slide trumpet (!).
Bernstein had wide-ranging musical experience, even arranging the Academy Award-nominated score for the film Get Shorty. He also served as musical director for
Hal Willner projects devoted to the music of
Leonard Cohen,
Doc Pomus, and
Bill Withers. He has collaborated, played, recorded, and performed with artists as disparate as
Tricky,
Foetus,
Aretha Franklin,
Mel Tormé,
They Might Be Giants,
Bootsy Collins,
Don Byron,
Medeski, Martin & Wood,
Roswell Rudd,
Sam Rivers,
Lou Reed,
Linda Ronstadt,
Sting, and
Courtney Love. As an arranger,
Bernstein has written charts for
Bill Frisell, Rufus Wainright,
Marianne Faithfull, and
Elton John, to name a few. Impressive and wide-ranging though this may be, it's not as satisfying as
Bernstein's own visionary music.
He has recorded a number of projects for
John Zorn's Tzadik imprint, in his Radical Jewish Culture Series, beginning with 1999's Diaspora Soul, followed by 2002's Diaspora Blues and 2004's Diaspora Hollywood. In 2004,
Bernstein became a member of
Levon Helm's
Midnight Ramble band, playing in both the house and touring versions. He also founded the
Millennial Territory Orchestra,with a stellar compendium of musicians from across the country, and many guests. Their debut album,
MTO, Vol. 1, was released in 2006, and We Are MTO in 2008;
Bernstein also released his brilliant Diaspora Suite on Tzadik that year. In 2009, he collaborated with
Marcus Rojas and
Kresten Osgood to release Tattoos & Mushrooms on the ILK Recordings imprint, and played on no less than ten other recordings, including sets by
Faithfull and
Helm. In 2010, he played a key role in composer/guitarist's
Todd Clouser's band for the album A Love Electric, and was a featured soloist on
Fight Like a Bull's
All Is Gladness in the Kingdom on Clean Feed.
Bernstein showed no signs of letting up in 2011. He played on
David Bromberg's comeback album
Use Me,
Lee "Scratch" Perry's
Rise Again, and
Helm's live
Ramble at the Ryman. Still he found time to make his own music -- even if it was a variation on someone else's. Despite the side work,
Bernstein once again found time for one of his own projects. He and
MTO released MTO Plays Sly on Royal Potato Family in September. The nine-piece orchestra -- augmented by guest appearances from
Antony Hegarty,
Bernie Worrell,
Dean Bowman,
Sandra St. Victor,
Bill Laswell,
Martha Wainwright,
Vernon Reid, and
Shilpa Ray -- performed a
Bernstein-arranged suite from the Sly Stone catalog and included several original interludes.
After an eight-year break,
Sexmob reunited. Delivering a program of
Nino Rota's themes, Cinema, Circus & Spaghetti: Sexmob Plays Fellini was released in 2013. As an arranger he wrote the charts for the
Mario Pavone Sextet's Deez to Blues, also issued that year.
Back in 1998, he had met New Orleans pianist
Henry Butler while leading the band in
Robert Altman's film Kansas City. The pair re-teamed in 2011 to perform early 20th century blues and jazz at an N.Y.C. blues festival. In 2012, they played an extended run at the Jazz Standard, where producer Joshua Feigenbaum caught their act and convinced them to record. He produced
Viper's Drag, co-billed with an all-star backing back called the Hot 9. The set was issued to kick off the revitalized Impulse! label in July of 2014. ~ Joslyn Lane & Thom Jurek