“... Steven Bernstein’s Sexmob have given themselves one task: to make modern jazz fun.”
— PopMatters

“Millennial Territory Orchestra, a vibrant big band piloted by slide-trumpet virtuoso Steven Bernstein, marries hot-jazz horns with fat backbeats to yield a riotously anachronistic party soundtrack on its new Sly Stone tribute, MTO Plays Sly.”
— Time Out New York

“One of my strongest skill sets is for organization — organizing groups and people…. You get ’em together and you give ’em some structure and you give ’em the freedom to be incredible.”
— Steven Bernstein, to SFJAZZ

Steven Bernstein is a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader whose career bridges jazz, experimental music, film, and dance with a voice that is unmistakably his own. A master of the rare slide trumpet and a veteran of the New York City music scene, Bernstein has spent decades reshaping what contemporary creative music can be — equal parts deep tradition, risk-taking, and joy.

His work as an arranger and collaborator spans an extraordinary range: music for films by directors Woody Allen and Robert Altman; compositions choreographed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Twyla Tharp; visionary projects with legendary producer Hal Willner; and long-standing collaborations with artists such as Lou Reed, Levon Helm, Roswell Rudd, Henry Butler, Bernie Worrell, and Sam Rivers. Bernstein’s role in Levon Helm’s late-career renaissance contributed to three GRAMMY Awards.

Bernstein is best known as the founder and guiding force behind two of the most enduring and imaginative ensembles of the past quarter-century: Sexmob and Millennial Territory Orchestra (MTO).

Now celebrating 30 years together, Sexmob is a quartet that consistently pushes the boundaries of the live music experience. Formed in 1996 out of a weekly residency at New York’s Knitting Factory, the band — Bernstein with Briggan Krauss, Tony Scherr, and Kenny Wollesen — performs without setlists, allowing compositions to evolve organically through improvisation and spontaneous transitions. Rooted in jazz tradition yet irreverent toward genre boundaries, Sexmob has toured extensively for three decades, playing everywhere from opera houses and rock clubs to house concerts and major international festivals. The band earned a DownBeat Critics Poll Award (Beyond Group of the Year, 2002), appears on Bill Frisell’s GRAMMY-winning Unspeakable (produced by Hal Willner), and is currently touring and collaborating with Laurie Anderson.

Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, now marking 25 years, is a nine-piece “little big band” celebrated for its witty, groove-driven reimaginings of music spanning a century — from early jazz and Ellington to Sly Stone, Prince, and beyond. The ensemble’s ambitious four-volume Community Music series (2021-2022) established a bold creative statement for the band, culminating in a major Carnegie Hall program in 2025 celebrating MTO’s 25th anniversary.

In June 2026, Bernstein releases two companion projects on Royal Potato Family: ResoNation Trio, with Scott Colley and Nasheet Waits, and Ultra Resonance, with Scotty Hard, underscoring an artist who continues to expand his language decades into an extraordinary career.