Steven Bernstein's Sexmob

Slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein brings his long-running band Sex Mob to the Joe Henderson Lab for a week-long residency that splits into two distinct musical journeys. The first two nights explore classic Latin Soul music, followed by an immersion into the explosive psychedelic rock of the 1960s.

Bernstein's mastery of the slide trumpet — an instrument that looks and sounds like a cross between a normal trumpet and a trombone — leads Sex Mob in all kinds of crazy directions. The quartet features alto saxophonist Briggan Krauss, bassist Tony Scherr, and drummer Kenny Wollesen, all outstanding improvisers who've built a cult following with explosive improvisation and wild reinterpretations over two decades.

Sex Mob puts the fun back in jazz, mixing avant-garde experimentation with infectious melodies and a terrific wit that leaves audiences smiling. They take familiar and almost familiar tunes, mangle them and reinvent them — sometimes sounding like free jazz, sometimes like New Orleans jazz, with everything from Monk and Ellington to James Bond themes and contemporary rock melodies in their repertoire. As one reviewer put it, "they're the rogue outfit that has, by force of personality and persistence, managed to bring the whole spectrum of America's music into a provocative and loose-limbed embrace."

With Bernstein as a gracious and at times manic bandleader, the stage becomes a hotbed of delirious, pulsating energy. The band balances infectious grooves with well-chosen blasts of dissonance, creating what one critic called "boundless verve and enthusiasm" that prevents the music from lapsing into jazz formularity. Their performances are described as highly smile-inducing evenings filled with raucous energy — a halfway point between groove jazz and avant-garde that makes experimental music accessible through sheer love and dedication to that often ignored aspect called fun.

For this residency, guitarist Liberty Ellman joins the group for the psychedelic programming, adding another layer to Sex Mob's signature blend of brass band, New Orleans funk, bebop, and cartoon antics — all pulled off virtuosically while remaining incredibly entertaining.