On 1998's "Din of Inequity," Sex Mob scrambled my mind with its furious cover of Prince's "Sign O' the Times." I've been waiting ever since for the funky jazz collective to release an album of Prince tunes.On their latest release, a live album called "Sex Mob Meets Medeski," Sex Mob meets me part of the way by revisiting "Sign O' the Times" and adding another Prince cover, "Darling Nikki." Needless to say, Sex Mob captured Prince's sass and jazzed "Darling Nikki" up with three or four layers of brassy sex. It's as good a track as Sex Mob's ever recorded.
Sex Mob also reworks a couple of tunes from "Sex Mob Does Bond." I said back in 2005 that the producers of 007 films should choose Sex Mob to record a soundtrack. After listening to live versions of "Odd Job" and "You Only Live Twice," I'm even more convinced. The tunes are an exotic mix of mystery and adrenalin. Hell, even Sex Mob's cover of Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy" sounds like it belongs on a James Bond soundtrack.
Trumpeter Steven Bernstein is the focal point, of course, but his whole crew, including guest star John Medeski on the organ, is terrific. Sex Mob's one of the most inventive bands working today and they're a killer live group. But I'm still waiting for a whole album of Prince covers.
