Trumpetist

Grammy-winning trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and first-call bandmate Steven Bernstein has been an essential voice in New York City’s jazz and creative music scene since the 1970s. With his own bands (including Sexmob, Millennial Territory Orchestra, and Diaspora Soul); as a former member of The Lounge Lizards and Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble; and as an arranger or sideman for such artists as Lou Reed, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Linda Ronstadt, Allen Toussaint, Laurie Anderson, Rufus Wainwright, and Nels Cline, Bernstein’s contributions to music are extraordinary. Prolific, versatile, and undefinable, Bernstein now makes his Carnegie Hall headlining debut, and the possibilities are nearly endless.

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Steven Bernstein, Trumpet

Carnegie Hall

“When the time comes, Bernstein clicks an invisible switch and the band pops into semi-flawless unison. At that point, you might imagine yourself in Harlem in 1929,” says the Village Voice about trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s expansive Millennial Territory Orchestra, an ensemble inspired by the pre-swing era territory bands that crisscrossed the country in the 1920s and 1930s.



Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra West

SFJAZZ Center

Trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s week begins with his long-running band Sex Mob, playing a cross-section of fresh material and selections from their repertoire.

The quartet has honed a singular sound over two decades 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 subversively re-imagined film music of Nino Rota and John Barry. They’ve released nine superlative albums for the Ropeadope, Columbia, Rex, Thirsty Ear, and Royal Potato labels.

Steven Bernstein: Sex Mob

Few of his generation have shaped free improvisation and world music as profoundly as Karl Berger. A trained musicologist, he emerged from the dim, post-war jazz scene in the South of Germany, where stationed U.S. soldiers fueled the music underground—until renowned American jazz musicians began forming their own bands there. But Berger wanted more.

Trumpetist

Steven Bernstein

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 22, 2026

Tribute To Karl Berger · Maverick Concerts

Past events

Mar 14, 2025

Steven Bernstein, Trumpet · Carnegie Hall

Feb 24, 2024 - Feb 25, 2025

Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra West · San Francisco Jazz

About

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