Steven Bernstein, the Berkeley-born trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, joins host Steve Roby for a wide-ranging conversation about five decades of musical exploration, his upcoming SFJAZZ residency, and two new companion albums that reimagine the same music through entirely different sonic lenses.

What We Talk About

• Growing up in Berkeley during the '60s and '70s — how the city's unique musical culture, the Keystone Corner jazz scene, and a school improvisation program shaped Bernstein's musical identity
• Why funk — not rock — was the lingua franca of Bay Area youth, and how Tower of Power loomed larger than The Beatles in that world
• Arriving in New York in 1979 at the dawn of the punk-funk era (Defunkt, James White and the Blacks), and finding his musical home in the downtown scene
• The origin story of Sexmob — born not in rehearsals but in late-night residencies at the Knitting Factory and Tonic, playing for live audiences and letting their reactions shape the music
• Resonation Trio and Ultra Resonance — two albums built from the same source material, one an acoustic trumpet trio, the other a full dub reimagining by producer Scotty Hard. Bernstein traces the idea back to first hearing Burning Spear's Garvey's Ghost and his lifelong love of surrealism and the magic realism of Borges and Cortázar
• Touring with Laurie Anderson and how Sexmob became one of her closest musical ensembles — and what makes "Church of Panic" a perfect example of the band's instinctive, arrangement-free approach
• A deep dive into Banacek from The Hard Way — how Julius Hemphill's Dogon A.D. still echoes in Bernstein's playing, and the enduring musical partnership with John Medeski
• The SFJAZZ residency: Sexmob Does The Bay — why Bernstein split the run into two nights of Bay Area psychedelic rock (with guitarist Liberty Ellman) and two nights of classic Latin soul (with percussionist John Santos)
• The Santana connection, the Afro-Latin heartbeat of Berkeley, and the gumbo culture that made Bay Area music unlike anywhere else
• A surprise detour into Jimi Hendrix's brief Berkeley childhood — and a hint that a Hendrix project may be next on Bernstein's list

Music Featured

• "Church of Panic" — Laurie Anderson (with Sex Mob)
• "Banacek" — Sex Mob & Scotty Hard (The Hard Way)
• All music was supplied by the artist and used with their permission.

Show Details

Artist: Steven Bernstein’s Sexmob

Venue: Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ Center

Date: July 16–19, 2026 (2026 SFJAZZ Summer Sessions)

Shows: Thu, July 16 & Fri, July 17 — Bay Area Psychedelic Rock, with Liberty Ellman; Sat, July 18 & Sun, July 19 — Classic Latin Soul, with John Santos. Showtimes: Thu–Sat 7:00 & 8:30 PM, Sun 6:00 & 7:30 PM.

Tickets: sfjazz.org

Pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley joins host Steve Roby for an in-depth discussion about his extraordinary career, his new album Invisible Piano, and an upcoming all-star Miles Davis centennial tribute concert in San Francisco.

Beasley explores his musical roots — from a household full of musicians to early influences like The Beatles, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, and Quincy Jones — and reflects on his journey through jazz, film, television, and large ensemble composition.

He talks about how a trip to a Stuttgart art gallery, and the surrealist paintings of Max Ernst inspired the creative process behind Invisible Piano, recorded with Germany's SWR Big Band. The album includes five original compositions and two new arrangements, such as a deeply personal rendition of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain."

John also previews ‘Unlimited Miles: Miles Davis at 100,’ an all-star jazz centennial celebration at the Presidio Theater in San Francisco on May 14, featuring Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, Sean Jones, Terry Gully, and Ben Williams.

Music featured in this episode:

• “Fire and Rain” — arranged and performed by John Beasley (from Invisible Piano)
• “Invisible Piano” (title track) — John Beasley with the SWR Big Band (from Invisible Piano)

Music provided by John Beasley and used with his permission.

Links:

• John Beasley: johnbeasleymusic.com
• Tickets for Unlimited Miles at the Presidio Theater (May 14th): presidiotheatre.org/shows
• Backstage Bay Area: backstagebayarea.com

Jazz trumpeter and composer David Weiss joins host Steve Roby for a wide-ranging conversation about a life built on music. From his early days in Queens, where he absorbed hard rock, fusion, and European avant-garde sounds, to leading some of contemporary jazz's most distinctive ensembles, Weiss reflects on the organic path that brought him to where he is today.

We dig into his latest album, Auteur (Origin Records) — a title he half-jokingly suggests should end with a question mark — and explore what it means to maintain a recognizable musical identity across multiple projects. David shares the stories behind two tracks from the album: "Resilience," a tribute to pianist George Cables, and "The Other Side of the Mountain," inspired by Ron Carter's reflections on perseverance and a Martin Luther King speech on the long arc of progress.

David also opens up about The Cookers — his hard-bop supergroup approaching its 20th year — the recent Kennedy Center cancellation amid the current political climate, and the challenge of keeping a band together when the musicians you love most are in their 80s and still outplaying everyone in the room.

The conversation ends with a look ahead to the David Weiss Sextet's upcoming five-city West Coast tour, featuring two sets at SF Jazz's Joe Henderson Lab in San Francisco.

Songs Featured in This Episode:

“Resilience” — David Weiss Sextet (Auteur, Origin Records)

“The Other Side of the Mountain” — David Weiss Sextet (Auteur, Origin Records)

*Both songs are from the album Auteur and were provided by the artist and used with their permission.

Show Details

🎷 Backstage Bay Area

Host: Steve Roby

Upcoming Show:

David Weiss Sextet

📍 SF Jazz – Joe Henderson Lab, San Francisco, CA

📅 Sunday, May 17th

🕕 Two sets: 6:00 PM & 7:30 PM

🎟 Tickets: sfjazz.org

Pro tip: Open seating — arrive early for the best seats.

David Weiss Sextet Members:

EJ Strickland | Myron Walden | David Bryant | Eric Wheeler | Ben Solomon | David Weiss

Album: Auteur — Out now on Origin Records