Sexmob's Latest Album 'Cultural Capital' Out Now

Now celebrating its 20th year, Sexmob (Steven Bernstein - slide trumpet, Briggan Krauss - saxophones, Tony Scherr - bass, Kenny Wollesen - drums) continues its irreverent M.O. with characteristic subversive impunity. Although Bernstein and company have been deconstructing familiar tunes for its whole history, their latest record Cultural Capital (April 14th) showcases Sexmob exclusively performing Bernstein's original compositions.

The band came together in 1996 for a weekly residency at the legendary downtown NYC venue The Knitting Factory and in 1998 released its debut, Din of Inequity. They followed up with 2000's Solid Sender, 2001's Sex Mob Does Bond, 2003's Dime Grind Palace, 2006's Sexotica, 2009's Sex Mob Meets Medeski: Live in Willisau and 2013's Cinema, Circus & Spaghetti: Sex Mob Plays Fellini. All showcased Bernstein as a remarkable arranger and interpreter, and Sexmob as a group with a wholly distinct style and method, yet one in line with jazz tradition. Bernstein explains: " I just take songs that I feel have a great melody and do them in my style. So I'll pick a tune and tell the guys, 'Let's Sexmob this!' And I realize that's what jazz musicians have always done. That's how Lester Young and Charlie Parker and Miles Davis got popular. They played the songs that everyone knew. And because they could recognize the song then that invited them into their style."

Click to listen to "Valentino" from Cultural Capital

The fact that Bernstein exclusively plays slide trumpet in Sexmob gives the quartet an even more distinctive edge. As he puts it, "When you play the trumpet, Louis Armstrong is the king. But when I play the slide trumpet, I'm the king. It's my voice. On trumpet, there's no escaping Armstrong and Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Lester Bowie...all those cats. But on slide trumpet, it's just me."

Bernstein showcases the wide-range of his compositional acumen throughout Cultural Capital. "Some of the tunes, like 'Bari Si,' 'Step Apache' and 'Syrup' are through-composed like Jelly Roll Morton pieces," he explains. "And some like '4 Cents' and 'Street' and are more jammy, where we take a little idea - a line or a groove - and just develop it."

Bernstein and his Sexmob crew continue to push the envelope in delightfully subversive ways on their fiercely independent, self-produced new outing,Cultural Capital, both a captivating continuation of their history while also a bold step into novel territory.

stevenbernstein.com