Royal Potato Family

Veteran trumpet player Steven Bernstein’s albums have long been modest, heady affairs ranging from exuberant James Bond film cues with John Medeski to moody examinations of Jewish cantorial transcriptions. Bernstein’s tribute to Sly and the Family Stone with the long-running Millennial Territory Orchestra brings him down the all-star route for the first time – which means a lot of vocals. Appearances by Antony Hegarty ( “Family Affair” ) and others are all good fun. But while the album is hardly square ( Dean Bowman ululates on too many tracks for that), the MTO and their natural dynamics mostly recede to the background, Bernstein’s sweet trumpet seeming more a distant beacon than a ringleader’s baton.