submitted on Mon, 11/17/2008 - 07:04 in Jazz Group by Mike_Longo 
Jazz is fun again. Yes, in the hands of a showman like Steven Bernstein it can be a ball. Whether he is fronting his band Sexmob, playing sideman to Bobby Previte, or arranging tracks for Mario Pavone, he means to entertain us. And entertainment as in "that's show biz folks."
Maybe it was his early work with {{John Lurie = 8915}}'s {{Lounge Lizards = 8874}} or his experience researching regional jazz bands as the musical director for Robert Altman's film Kansas City (1996) that turned him into a showman. He may have a love of cartoons from the 1930s and '40s, since they combined showmanship and physical comedy with the good feeling jazz of the times. Whatever it may be, his reverence for the irreverent will probably never get him into Lincoln Center. And that's just fine...
Source: allaboutjazz
Author: Mark Corroto
