The Hope Of Sex And It's Many Meanings!

What do you call a band that can cover James Bond music, Prince, The Cardigans and still have room for an odd version of the "Macarena?" Yes, by the way I did say "Macarena," that silly song that I was asked all the time when I worked at a music store back in 1995. Thank god this version is got a better feel to it then that piece of crap. Anyway, the band was called Sex Mob and when they burst onto the Jazz scene I was quite impressed on what they did. I had not heard a single note on the CD when I went to see Sex Mob play at my favorite place in New York. The Knitting Factory was the place to be in those years and I still remember fondly that I looked at my friend asking more about them. He only knew about Steve Bernstein playing a slide trumpet.

We did not know what to think, but with anything that the Knitting Factory did. We were excited to see what would happen. How odd can a Jazz quartet be? Well At first listen we had no idea that each member was going to take a solo to start the show. Totally though most of the audience including myself off guard. This went on for about fifteen minutes. It was definitely different and something that I would remember for a while. When they finished that Steve got on the microphone and told all of us that they were going to play some unusual selections that were not your typical songs. We, I guess were in for a wild ride.



After his spoken introduction of the band they decided to start with a James Bond song. It was funny because when you heard Steve start them off you really thought that they were the ones who wrote it for the film. The song was Goldfinger from the same movie. One of my favorite Bond pieces. the audience of about 200 laughed and so did the rest of the band. After the song Steve told us that he is such a Bond fan that he wants to work on more of those Bond ideas. He actually made a Bond tribute album and also did another Knitting Factory show that did Bond music with Bond video. It was also another unique experience. He weaved into more odd territory with a few pop songs that were Jazz versions. I was not so sure what to think but they were done well. The chemistry and the choice was great.

After the show he was selling his first CD. I picked it up and had him and the rest of the band sign it. It was truly a unique show. They also told us that they will be doing a weekly show here at the Knitting Factory on Saturday nights to try out ideas and adding special guests to see what works and what does not. These guests (because I went to a lot of these) were people like John Medeski (from Medeski, Martin and Wood) to Adam Levy (great underrated guitar player). I went to see Sex Mob about eight times and each time was a great twist of what they had up their sleeve. Listening to the CD of their debut Din of Iniquity you have that feel that you as well were there with me.


Din of Iniquity is such a great fun album. Even after seeing them so many times I realized that this was only the tip of the iceberg. Even their next album had some unique music to them this time covering the Rolling Stones, Nirvana, James Brown Buffalo Springfield and Grateful Dead and even Abba. They played the songs that everyone knew and because they could recognize the song, then that invited them into their style. That is how all the Jazz greats did it as well. "Jazz used to be popular music. People would go out to clubs, listen to the music, go home, and get laid. Simple as that. We're bringing that spirit back." Steve Bernstein is right! That's why I love this album and you should listen to it as well. What a great album to listen and kick back and enjoy! Try it out! Have fun and Enjoy!!!