Steven Bernstein’s Jazz Laboratory

Posted on August 4, 2004
Filed Under Music |

Slightly related to my earlier posting, here is a nice program I found. I’ve never really been a big fan of jazz, but like many other interests, my focus tends to shift towards new things. National Public Radio, on a program called All Things Considered, produced a story on Steven Bernstein, a jazz musician who plays with his ensemble regularly in New York City.

The program, possibly one in a series, is entitled Creative Spaces. Its focus is on the workspaces of creative people.

Bernstein sees himself as a musical detective who. . . heads away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan to the small town of Nyack, N.Y. There, he lives in a gingerbread Victorian, surrounded by a riot of summer blooms and a smattering of children’s toys.

You can hear the program and see photographs of his workspace at Creative Spaces: Steven Bernstein’s Jazz Laboratory. The best thing about listening to the program if the listener is treated to a little bit of his music. In addition to listening to the program’s broadcast, you can also listen to an influential folk song and one of Bernstein’s own compositions to draw your own opinion of the original piece’s indluence on the latter.

I find that interesting that Bernstein plays the slide trumpet. I have never come across anybody who plays that particular variation—a hybrid between a regular trumpet (with valves) and a trombone (with a slide). It would be a more difficult instrument to play than either the trumpet or the trombone. To play in tune, the slide has to be positioned in a particular spot for each instrument. On a trombone, a much larger instrument than the slide trumpet, you have much more wiggle room for positioning in order to get the intonation correct. The slide trumpet will be less forgiving when the hand places the slide a fraction of an inch off its optimal location.

Comments

One Response to “Steven Bernstein’s Jazz Laboratory”

  1. Luca Bonvini on February 11th, 2005 2:00 pm

    Hi Harlan,
    Greetings from Paris!
    really appreciate your not-site and the article on Steven.
    I also play the hibrid instrument: please check my not-site.
    I am looking for Stevens addresses to send him the CD: do you have his E-mail?
    Please give me some feedback about my work if you like and also divulgate it if you wish.
    W Whitman W Goethe

    Best Regards,

    Luca

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