Steven Bernstein Fest: SEXMOB PLAYS FELLINI
A master of the previously obscure slide trumpet, Steven Bernstein is a fearless improviser, composer and arranger. For this four-night residency presents two of his most explosive ensembles.
Trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s week begins with his long-running band Sex Mob, playing music from their 2013 album devoted to the immortal soundtrack composer and Federico Fellini collaborator Nino Rota, Cinema, Circus & Spaghetti: Sex Mob Play Fellini. Recently celebrating its twentieth year, the quartet has honed a singular sound marked by high-energy, protean group improvisation and rollicking grooves unlike any other band on the planet. Originally formed for a weekly residency at New York’s Knitting Factory, they’ve earned a devoted fan base with boisterous deconstructions of tunes by a shaggy menagerie of pop acts, from Abba and James Brown to Prince and Elvis Presley, and released nine superlative albums for the Ropeadope, Columbia, Rex, Thirsty Ear, and Royal Potato labels. For these shows, Sex Mob revisits the gorgeous music Rota composed for Fellini classics La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, La Strada, reimagined for their signature collision of punk rock spirit and sophisticated interplay.