Steven Bernstein Fest: SEXMOB PLAYS ELLINGTON, Shows at 7:00pm & 8:30pm.
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 second night with his long-running band Sex Mob focuses on the work of jazz’s greatest composer, Duke Ellington. 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. The music of Ellington has been a consistent part of the Sex Mob songbook, with pieces including “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “The Mooche,” and “Come Sunday” all appearing on various albums, and 2000’s self-released Theatre & Dance featuring new arrangements of Ellington’s work commissioned for dance by choreographer Donald Byrd. The band revisits this material on this special night.