Steven Bernstein's MILLENNIAL TERRITORY ORCHESTRA

historydeletesitse
Dec 3, 2023
1 min read

Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra

“M.T.O. Volume 1" (Sunnyside)

Hired in 1995 by director Robert Altman as a music consultant for the film “Kansas City”, New York trombonist/band leader Steven Bernstein began what quickly became an obsessive study of America’s “territorial” jazz bands of the 20s. Immersing himself, absorbing every subtle nuance, he began to see the uncanny potential in all music to be reinterpreted in a pre-Bop style. Assembling a crew of nine shit-hot players, all established composers and improvisers of the highest order, Bernstein and his Millennial Territory Orchestra started working NYC jazz clubs in 1999. Their 2006 debut, “M.T.O. Volume 1", is an amazingly unique jazz record that features a handful of contemporary compositions like The Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry”, Prince’s “Darling Nikki”, and a blues-y, easy-rollin’ arrangement of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” featuring guest guitarist/vocalist Doug Wamble. A brilliant blend of the old and the new, this is something big and bold and righteous performed by clever and imaginative Re-Animators of Jazz with a passion for a forgotten era in American music. The M.T.O.’s fierce dedication to an old style approach succeeds in creating something wholly fresh here.