EPK Cornerstone

[cs_content _p='251'][cs_element_section _id="1" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="2" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="3" ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="4" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="5" ][cs_element_headline _id="6" ][cs_content_seo]Falling\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_headline _id="7" ][cs_content_seo]from\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_headline _id="8" ][cs_content_seo]Earth\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][cs_element_text _id="9" ][cs_content_seo]The new album by\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="10" ][cs_content_seo]Bob Schlesinger\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="11" ][cs_content_seo]Featuring\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="12" ][cs_content_seo]Mike Stern / Eddie Gomez / Billy Drummond\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="13" ][cs_content_seo]Contact\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="14" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="15" ][cs_element_icon _id="16" ][cs_element_text _id="17" ][cs_content_seo]info@bobschlesingerjazz.com\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id="18" ][cs_element_image _id="19" ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id="20" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="21" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="22" ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="23" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="24" ][cs_element_headline _id="25" ][cs_content_seo]Photos\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="26" ][cs_element_headline _id="27" ][cs_content_seo]&\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="28" ][cs_element_headline _id="29" ][cs_content_seo]Album Art\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id="30" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="31" ][cs_element_layout_div _id="32" ][cs_element_headline _id="33" ][cs_content_seo]Click to Download\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_div][cs_element_layout_grid _id="34" ][cs_element_layout_cell _id="35" ][cs_element_image _id="36" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="37" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="38" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="39" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="40" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="41" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="42" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="43" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="44" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="45" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="46" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id="47" ][/cs_element_layout_cell][/cs_element_layout_grid][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id="48" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="49" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="50" ][cs_element_headline _id="51" ][cs_content_seo]Listen\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id="52" ][cs_element_raw_content _id="53" ][cs_content_seo]

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_headline _id="54" ][cs_content_seo]Credits\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="55" ][cs_content_seo]Bob Schlesinger piano 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

\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id="56" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="57" ][cs_element_headline _id="58" ][cs_content_seo]Album notes\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="59" ][cs_content_seo]by Bob Schlesinger\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id="60" ][cs_element_text _id="61" ][cs_content_seo]As the world came to a standstill in 2020, I had the good fortune to be able to use that time as my own personal "artist-in-residence." Working with my long-time friend and occasional bandmate, Producer/Mixer John March, we had the opportunity, time, and space for a deep dive into recordings made several years earlier in Boulder with Mike Stern. Two tracks, which started as studio improvisations, evolved and morphed into intricate polished pieces on the album, Mike's "Bait Tone Blues" and a 13-minute improvisational odyssey, "Easy Offramp." The latter was inspired by the approaches taken by Miles Davis and Teo Macero in creating Bitches Brew. With uninterrupted time, our creative collaboration allowed these pieces to take shape organically and often unexpectedly.
"Easy Offramp" arose from a story shared by a friend working in hospice care. Hearing of her patient's desperate longing for a speedier exit deeply affected me, and I later thought he wants an easy offramp. These emotions haunted me, and I later found myself at the piano. The theme that emerged eventually became the core of a 13-minute composition.
Though not strictly programmatic, these emotions led to creating a piece that carries the weight of that narrative. It unfolded over several years like a road map through improvisations, arranging, and re-structuring via editing and re-recording. With the story continuing to swirl in my psyche, I went along for the journey that had a lot of different entrances and exits, which included recording new guitar parts with Mike Stern in 2022, new drums with Steve Hass, and bass parts with Kevin Axt in 2023. 
John and I had already spent most of 2019 mixing the tracks we recorded with Mike Stern and Eddie Gomez in New York in 2018. As part of that, he also produced and edited videos for many of those tracks. Despite the challenges created by the pandemic and John moving to Spain, we worked remotely using some new technologies, and we were able to achieve extraordinary results. Even from 4,000 miles away, John elicited performances from me that pushed my limits and got me to previously undiscovered places. As a mixing engineer, he was able to sculpt soundscapes that transcended the limitations of remote collaborations. Every instrument and each performance integrates into a seamless whole; every part dances in the mix, creating a sonic landscape that captivates and inspires.
As Falling From Earth prepares to launch, I hope you can join me in sharing this process that has brought forth the music I have for so long imagined. \n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id="62" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="63" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="64" ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="65" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="66" ][cs_element_headline _id="67" ][cs_content_seo]Videos\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id="68" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="69" ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="70" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="71" ][cs_element_video _id="72" ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="73" ][cs_element_video _id="74" ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id="75" ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="76" ][cs_element_video _id="77" ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id="78" ][cs_element_video _id="79" ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id="80" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="81" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="82" ][cs_element_quote _id="83" ][cs_content_seo]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.\n\nMike Stern\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id="84" ][cs_element_quote _id="85" ][cs_content_seo]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.\n\nKevin Axt\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id="86" ][cs_element_layout_row _id="87" ][cs_element_layout_column _id="88" ][cs_element_headline _id="89" ][cs_content_seo]Bio\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id="90" ][cs_content_seo]by Bob Doerschuk, Keyboard magazine, Musician magazine, Downbeat, Relix\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id="91" ][cs_element_text _id="92" ][cs_content_seo]Falling from Earth is a dream project for jazz composer and keyboardist Bob Schlesinger. And it all started as a jazz trio project, which on the surface doesn't seem that elusive a goal.
But as high as it was on his priority list, a trio album never happened. What eventually came to fruition was more. So much more.
"I tried at least five times over ten years to do a serious trio recording, "Schlesinger says. "A couple of times, I moved my Baldwin concert grand to someone's studio and let them use it so I could get free recording time. I made live recordings in a piano store. But for one reason or another, things just never came together."
The first big step was in 2009. Schlesinger met the incomparable bassist Eddie Gomez when they performed at a concert honoring Bob's teacher, Ted Alexander. At that concert, Schlesinger and Gomez discussed recording together. Fast forward ten years when Pathways To Jazz, an organization dedicated to helping fund jazz recording projects, awarded Schlesinger a grant to record a trio with Gomez.
While preparing to record, Schlesinger decided to add a guitar to the mix. He had met guitar legend Mike Stern numerous times in New York and invited him to join the trio. In September 2018, with session giant Billy Drummond on drums, the tape began rolling at New York's Sear Sound. Later that year, Stern came to Boulder to record additional tracks with Bob. The album Falling From Earth joins the tracks from these two sessions.

Bob's Story
Bob's musical journey began in Topeka, Kansas. From an early age, classical music was ever-present in his home, and early lessons from his mother turned into formal study of classical piano at age eight. His musical explorations took flight in high school in Denver, where he fell under the spell of rock 'n' roll. He began experimenting with electric keyboards, exploring improvisation, and playing covers with a band.
At the University of Colorado, Schlesinger's horizons broadened from exposure to the eclectic tastes of fellow music students and the mentorship of jazz luminary Ted Alexander. A major in composition and Alexander's tutelage launched Bob's journey through the intersection of improvisation and composition.
After college, Schlesinger embarked on a long and diverse career of live gigs, from jazz festivals to R&B clubs, honing his craft as a band leader and sideman. Composing for theater and film sharpened his pencil.
The culmination of all these experiences set the stage for his new tour de force recording, Falling from Earth. Schlesinger has crafted a unique and innovative recording while collaborating with Mike and Eddie and a creative partnership with Producer and Mixer John March. From soul-stirring ballads to blistering improvisations and evocative compositions, the result is a testament to his unrelenting pursuit of excellence, boundless creativity, and unwavering dedication to the art form.
Schlesinger beckons listeners into a realm where musical boundaries blur, and creativity knows no bounds. "I am excited to see what the future holds for me and look forward to new and more creative collaborations and opportunities. I want to explore what is possible and then go past that!"\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content]