Photo Credit: Jacob Blickenstaff

Steven Bernstein has shared a preview of his forthcoming album, Popular Culture (Community Music, Vol. 4), which will be released on Sept. 9 through Royal Potato Family. Today, the artist and his band delivered the first single off the album, an updated jazz-infused rendition of the Grateful Dead’s seminal 1970 track, “Black Peter.” 

Bernstein’s new album pulls from the great American Songbook, drawing on traditional elements on the latest set of sacred tunes while applying an updated flair that captures the musician and his band’s effervescent and expansive sound. Bernstein offered, “I’ve always been into the idea of popular culture: what do we all connect with? What brings us together?” He added, “Also, I just like the music.”

The forthcoming album sees the musician cover six tracks, including Eddie Harris’ 1968 track “I’m Gonna Leave You By Yourself,” Duke Ellington’s sultry “Flirtibird,” Bessie Smith’s “Put It Right Here,” The Beatles’ “Long, Long, Long,” Charles Mingus’ “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” and today’s release, the Grateful Dead’s “Black Peter.” 

Bernstein offered some thoughts on the updated take on the Grateful Dead standard; he stated, “It has a New Orleans feeling, the way I imagine a riverboat band may have sounded, then the New York City vibe because of the intensity and intent.” He added, “And in the bridge you hear that West Coast psychedelic haze.”

“The reason all this music even exists is the honest communication we’ve developed over the years,” Bernstein said about his Millenial Territory Orchestra. “And not only are these people excellent musicians, they’re distinctive players. Those arrangements are written for the specific people who are playing them, and that’s why it sounds the way it does,” he concluded.  

Listen to the cover of “Black Peter” now. 

Popular Culture Tracking List: 

  1. I’m Gonna Leave You By Yourself 
  2. Black Peter 
  3. Flirtibird 
  4. Put It Right Here 
  5. Long, Long, Long 
  6. Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love