Bob Schlesinger piano/keyboards Mike Stern guitar Eddie Gomez bass Billy Drummond drums
Bass (1-4) Kevin Axt
Drums (1, 3) Steve Hass
Drums (2) Dean Oldencott
Drums (4) Karl Latham
Produced and mixed by John March
1-4 recorded at Coupe Studios, Boulder
5-11 recorded at Sear Sound, NYC
The album title, Falling From Earth, was inspired by my brother’s photograph that I chose for the cover. He created it in the 1980s, and it is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. If we were to fall FROM earth, where would we land? I am proud to feature his art on this album. More about him can be found at JohnSchlesinger.net.
-Bob Schlesinger
by Bill Milkowski
Bill Milkowski is a longtime contributor to Downbeat and Guitar Player. He is also the author of biographies on Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino and Michael Brecker.
Sometimes temporary setbacks can provide unique opportunities for creative solutions. Such was the case with pianist-composer Bob Schlesinger. It was during the pandemic, when the rest of the world was at a standstill, that he revived a project that had been simmering for over half a decade. Falling from Earth is the result.
Originally recorded in 2018 with an all-star crew of guitarist Mike Stern, former Bill Evans bassist Eddie Gomez, and in-demand drummer Billy Drummond, Schlesinger’s debut as a leader took place in two sections — tracks recorded at Sear Sound in New York City in September and at Coupe Studios in Boulder at the end of the year. These tracks were mixed in 2019 and were scheduled for release. Enter the pandemic.
During the ensuing downtime, the pianist collaborated with engineer-producer John March to re-evaluate the tracks from the sessions that had been put on the back burner. Stern’s “Bait Tone Blues” and the sprawling 13-minute “Easy Off Ramp” had originated as unadulterated studio jams. “We had a chance to start going through that material, like Miles Davis did with Teo Macero on Bitches Brew,” Schlesinger recalled. “We had a lot of uninterrupted time, so we just hunkered down and did it. The pieces evolved in a collaborative, improvisatory, iterative process.”
Six years after its inception, Falling from Earth is finally here. Featuring four Schlesinger originals, four Stern compositions, one epic joint effort, and some choice cover interpretations, the instrumentation and musical moods range from sublime jazz trio to burning electric quartet.
Schlesinger’s connection to Stern came about from the pianist’s many trips to New York City to visit his father, who had moved to the Big Apple in 1985. Invariably, the pianist would find himself at the 55 Bar, where the guitarist had a weekly residency at the intimate, subterranean jazz club in the heart of the West Village. “I distinctly remember going there the first time,” he recalled. “Mike was playing all standards with a trio. To be sitting there just feet from the stage listening to Mike Stern playing ‘On Green Dolphin Street,’ ending the tune on a vamp, kicking on the distortion and wailing like Hendrix … it was an inspiration.” Back in Boulder, Schlesinger began incorporating that inspiration into his own arrangements.
The pianist had initially met Gomez in 2009 when they played together at a concert honoring the late Denver-based pianist and teacher Ted Alexander, who was Schlesinger’s mentor. “I studied with him during the '70s and then again in the early 2000s,” he recalled. “Ted knew Bill Evans personally and whenever Bill would come to town, Ted would be there for all five nights, then they would go out for coffee after the gig. In fact, I’ve got some music that Bill wrote on a napkin that he gave to Ted. Ever the sportsman, Ted took Eddie skeet shooting.”
Nine years later, Pathways To Jazz, an organization dedicated to helping fund jazz recording projects, awarded Schlesinger a grant to record a trio with Gomez. “During pre-production, I was having difficulty making 'Left Field' work as a trio (I had written it for my quartet with guitar), and the thought occurred to me, ‘Maybe I should get a guitarist in New York?’ Then that little voice inside of me that I try to listen to said, ‘Call Stern!’” In September 2018, the four musicians convened at Sear Sound.
Of the four Stern compositions, two are ballads. “I've talked to a lot of Mike Stern fans, and they all seem to agree with me: we came for the flash, but we stayed for the ballads. After one of his gigs, I told him so, and he just smiled as if to say, 'That's where my heart lies.' We recorded 'Common Ground' in New York. During planning for the Boulder session, when I told him I wanted to record a second ballad, he suggested 'Wing and a Prayer.'"
Side A of the first LP of Falling from Earth opens with the 13-minute journey “Easy Offramp,” which was meticulously pieced together in post-production. The title and piano theme for this expansive piece arose from a story shared by a friend of Schlesinger’s who was working in hospice care at the time. “She was with a cancer patient who was ready to go, and yet his body kept living,” the pianist explained. “I said that he was looking for an easy offramp, and improvised a short theme at the piano. While we were working on the piece, Lyle Mays died. I had been listening to a lot of his music, especially his album with Pat Metheny, As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, because it’s long-formed and beautifully evocative and improvised. So there was a sense of mortality brewing in my brain, and the idea kept coming back to me of someone’s life passing before their eyes.”
Stern’s gorgeous ballad “Wing and a Prayer” unfolds like a hymn. Taken at a slightly slower tempo than the original, with Gomez’s fundamental woody tones and Drummond’s sensitive brushwork underscoring the proceedings, it showcases the guitarist’s nuanced touch and emotive string-bending prowess.
Side B kicks off in high-energy fashion with Stern’s urgent “Bait Tone Blues.” With Schlesinger alternating between organ and electric piano, joined by Kevin Axt grooving on electric bass and Steve Haas traversing the kick with muscular abandon, the guitarist’s overdrive pedal is set on stun on his solo. The tricky head on this slamming number, played in tightly-executed unisons by Stern, Axt and Schlesinger, throbs with fusiony firepower.
Schlesinger’s “Brush Stroke” opens with some brisk, unaccompanied piano flurries before settling into an earthy funk groove. As the piece builds in intensity, Stern unleashes his patented “chops of doom,” building to a toe-curling crescendo at the peak of his solo. The leader follows by stretching on his piano solo over the percolating rhythm section.
Side B of the first LP concludes with some of Stern’s most heartfelt and lyrical playing of the session on his poignant ballad “Common Ground.”
Side C opens with Schlesinger’s “Left Field,” a sinister slow-funk workout paced by Gomez’s deep grooving bass. Stern alludes to his nasty “Jean Pierre” licks with Miles Davis on his blues-drenched displays of string-bending here. Schlesinger takes his time on his own solo, delivering some signature Herbie Hancock trills on Fender Rhodes along the way. Drummond also gets a solo taste before Schlesinger (on piano) and Stern engage in some playful call-and-response at the tag.
Stern’s bop-fueled “Suspone” was originally a composition exercise given to the guitarist by his Boston composition mentor Charlie Banacos. Opening with some fractured, almost ragtime-styled solo piano playing, it abruptly shifts gears, heading into a chops-busting uptempo head executed in tight unisons between guitar and piano as Gomez walks insistently on bass and Drummond swings underneath on brushes. Stern’s solo on this contrafact on Gershwin’s classic “I Got Rhythm,” is reminiscent of one of his Monday or Wednesday nights at the 55 Bar back in the day. Schlesinger explores the contours of those oft-played changes while dropping in a direct quote from the Gershwin classic at the outset. They close out Side C with Schlesinger’s “But What Do You Want To Play,” an angular, modern bop piece based on the changes to Cole Porter’s “I Love You.”
Side D, comprised of all trio pieces, opens with a gentle rendering of Thad Jones’ beautiful ballad “A Child Is Born.” Gomez bows the poignant melody upfront with Schlesinger accompanying on piano, before Drummond launches into the entrancing 3/4 samba rhythm. The leader offers a buoyant piano solo midway through, then Gomez returns to deliver a brilliant pizzicato solo on this appealing number.
Schlesinger’s crystalline ballad “Quien Es” was born out of heartbreak and carries a touch of melancholy throughout. His elegant, unhurried approach on this delicate number speaks volumes while Gomez’s expressive upright solo here is particularly moving.
Side D concludes with a reimagining of Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” that incorporates some gospel piano flourishes along the way, inspired by Billy Preston’s rendition of the tune. Schlesinger’s version morphs from chamber-like intro to meditative blues groove to joyful gospel-tinged expression. “It’s like a remix,” he explained. “The opening section is kind of ECM-ish, and then when it comes down to the groove, that is my piano version of Dylan’s Delta blues thing. Then when it gets all gospel-y, that’s the Billy Preston influence coming in.”
Realizing his triumphant debut as a leader at age 67 was also particularly gratifying for Schlesinger. As he said, “In this society where the ‘flavor of the month’ prevails and new prodigies are coming out every day to grab the spotlight, there are still people continuing to create well into their third act.”
And to have this long-overdue release finally come to fruition is a gift to listeners.
It takes courage to create something new. Bob has a creative spirit and is a great guy. That courage and creative spirit are why musicians keep going and hopefully make good music together.
Mike Stern
Recording this album was one of the most unique experiences of my career. Working remotely with John March, we were able to capture pure magic. Bob Schlesinger’s compositions are wonderful, and my session-mates Mike Stern and Steve Hass gave brilliant performances. Jazz at its best.
Kevin Axt
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