1. SexMob plays film music of John Lurie & Inner Greatness performs the Music of John Lurie
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Time: 8pm
Venue: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, Phone: 212- 505-3474)
Ticket: $18
Genre: jazz
Featuring also Steven Bernstein, Tony Scherr, Briggan Krauss, Kenny Wollesen, Greg Saunier (of Deerhoof), Doug Wieselman, and Adam Brisbin
Sex Mob began merely as a setting to feature the slide trumpet of leader Steven Bernstein, but has grown into a band with a much larger mission: to put the fun back in jazz music. After assembling the band (Bernstein, slide trumpet; Briggan Krauss, alto sax; Tony Scherr, bass; Kenny Wollesen, drums), Sex Mob began a residency at the Knitting Factory, playing predominantly originals written by Bernstein. During a special evening of film music, the crowd went crazy for the “James Bond Theme,” and Bernstein realized that the audience was much more attuned to their playing when they recognized the tune. The band started to expand their songbook, but not to the same old, tired jazz standards. Songs by Prince, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and even the “Macarena” could find their way into a Sex Mob set, the only rule being that the song had to have such a strong melody that it could withstand serious deconstruction. Bernstein said in Jazz Asylum, “I realize that’s what jazz musicians have always done. That’s how Lester Young got popular; it’s how Charlie Parker got popular; it’s how Miles Davis got popular; that’s how John Coltrane got popular. They played the songs that everyone knew and because they could recognize the song, then that invited them into their style.”
