{"id":11480,"date":"2025-10-27T21:27:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=11480"},"modified":"2025-10-27T21:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:27:03","slug":"review-schlesinger-falling-from-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-schlesinger-falling-from-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bob Schlesinger\u2019s \u2018Falling From Earth\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>To say that Colorado-based pianist\/composer Bob Schlesinger\u2019s <em>Falling from Earth<\/em> (Digmatic, 2025) was a long time coming is a vast understatement. The project &#8211; the sixty-eight year old keyboardist\u2019s leader debut &#8211; had been simmering for half a decade. Tracks were recorded in two separate sessions, Sear Sound in New York City and Coupe Studios in Boulder, Colorado in 2018. While the coronavirus pandemic delayed the album\u2019s release, it also gave Schlesinger time to reconsider the recorded tracks. He, along with engineer-producer John March mirrored the roles of Teo Macero and Miles Davis on <em>Bitches Brew <\/em>(Columbia, 1970) in taking studio jams and turning them into \u201cBait Tone Blues\u201d and \u201cEasy Off Ramp.\u201d Six years later, the finished product ranges from ballads to high-powered fusion. Its range benefits from the presence of top-shelf artists on the album, including guitarist Mike Stern, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Billy Drummond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_Jcurfq_9wAQ\"><div id=\"lyte_Jcurfq_9wAQ\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Jcurfq_9wAQ\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Jcurfq_9wAQ\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Jcurfq_9wAQ\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The album &#8211; featuring Bill Milkowski\u2019s  liner notes, from which some of this review takes inspiration &#8211; begins with the ethereal long-form \u201cEasy Offramp.\u201d It is one of the four tracks recorded in Colorado, all of which feature the bassist Kevin Axt and three different drummers. Steve Hass is behind the kit for this one. The origin of the piece arose from a story shared by one of Schlesinger\u2019s friends who was working in hospice care at the time. She was with a cancer patient who was ready to pass, but his body kept living. Schlesinger said that he was looking for an easy off-ramp and improvised a short theme on the piano. While working on the piece, Lyle Mays passed, so Schlesinger, who was listening to lots of Pat Metheny at the time, took that direction with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stern composed four pieces for the record, two of which are ballads. \u201cWing and a Prayer\u201d floats, hymn-like, butressed by Axt\u2019s earth bass and brushwork from drummer Karl Latham. In New York, they recorded the highly lyrical, emotive \u201cCommon Ground\u201d with Stern, Gomez, and Drummond. In stark contrast, the fiery runs to which Stern is stereotypically connected are on full display on \u201cBait Tone Blues\u201d as the leader alternates between electric piano and organ, Axt\u2019s electric bass and Hass\u2019s kit slam hard. The fourth piece is a contrafact to Gershwin\u2019s \u201cI Got Rhythm,\u201d featuring a ragtime solo piano intro that soon unleashes bebop inspired lines from Stern, accompanied by Drummond and Gomez with the latter sounding drastically different stylistically from Axt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_v7_JYTccTRo\"><div id=\"lyte_v7_JYTccTRo\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/v7_JYTccTRo\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/v7_JYTccTRo\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/v7_JYTccTRo\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schlesinger\u2019s \u201cBrush Stroke\u201d begins with brief piano bursts before exploding in a funky workout featuring Stern in high-flying mode, backed by Axt and Dean Oldencott on drums. Tempo slows for the steady groove of \u201cLeft Field,\u201d wherein Stern references his work on \u201cJean Pierre\u201d with Miles Davis. Schlesinger, in turn, rips off Herbie Hancock-like riffs on the Rhodes. Drummond gets a brief solo before the leader, on acoustic piano, and Stern engage in a feisty dialogue. Schlesinger\u2019s \u201cBut What Do You Want To Play,\u201d continues the unbridled energy with a modern bop piece based on the changes to Cole Porter\u2019s \u201cI Love You.\u201d The tandem of Gomez and Drummond is especially locked in here, giving Stern and Schlesinger free exploratory reins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_MEblUfB9i-0\"><div id=\"lyte_MEblUfB9i-0\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MEblUfB9i-0\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/MEblUfB9i-0\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/MEblUfB9i-0\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Falling From Earth<\/em> concludes with three trio pieces, sans Stern. They render the beautiful Thad Jones ballad \u201cA Child Is Born\u201d a feature for Gomez on the bowed bass and, toward its end, in pizzicato. Schlesinger\u2019s bright piano solo is sandwiched in between as Drummond lays down the samba rhythm.&nbsp; The melancholic \u201cQuien Es\u201d seems like an outlier on this high energy album as the piece shows a patient Schlesinger, Drummond\u2019s tasteful brushwork, and Gomez in his Bill Evans-like comfort zone. The closer is a surprising and inventive take on Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s Alright, Ma (I\u2019m Only Bleeding).\u201d The leader likens it to a remix, commenting, \u201cThe opening section is kind of ECM-ish, and then when it comes down to the groove, that is my piano version of Dylan\u2019s Delta blues thing. Then, when it gets all gospel-y, that\u2019s the Billy Preston influence coming in.\u201d Again, Gomez\u2019s arco work is noteworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seldom does an album deliver such stylistic and emotional diversity. The long wait for Schlesinger to release an album of his own was indeed worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u2018Falling From Earth\u2019 is out now.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To say that Colorado-based pianist\/composer Bob Schlesinger\u2019s Falling from Earth (Digmatic, 2025) was a long time coming is a vast understatement. The project &#8211; the sixty-eight year old keyboardist\u2019s leader debut &#8211; had been simmering for half a decade. Tracks were recorded in two separate sessions, Sear Sound in New York City and Coupe Studios [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":11479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":42,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Review: Bob Schlesinger\u2019s \u2018Falling From Earth\u2019","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2257.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-2Za","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12195,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-lage-scenes-above\/","url_meta":{"origin":11480,"position":0},"title":"Review: Julian Lage Quartet\u2019s  \u2018Scenes from Above\u2019","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"January 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Julian Lage\u00a0is unafraid to switch gears. 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