Boulder-based pianist Bob Schlesinger joined KGNU’s Kooter Jones to discuss his new album Falling from Earth, a seven-year project featuring jazz greats Eddie Gomez and Mike Stern. Funded in part by a Pathways to Jazz grant, the recording took place in New York and Boulder, blending original compositions, reimagined covers, and innovative studio work, including the 13-minute track Easy Off Ramp, assembled in the spirit of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. The album is available on digital download, CD, and audiophile vinyl, with an official release concert set for Thursday, August 14th at Dazzle in Denver’s Performing Arts Complex. (Interview: 8/7/25)
Kooter Jones: I’ve got Bob Schlesinger on the line here. Bob, can you hear me?
Bob Schlesinger: I hear you fine, yeah.
Kooter Jones: Awesome. I’m just gonna fade this track out so we can hear you. How are you doing this evening?
Bob Schlesinger: I’m doing great. I’m having a good time. It’s nice to be on the air and on KGNU. I’ve been in the Cabaret a number of times with various bands, but this is nice. Thank you.
Kooter Jones: Thanks so much for joining us this evening. I know the reason you’re here is to talk about your forthcoming release Falling from Earth. That’s correct, yeah? If you just want to talk a little bit about that and how the project came together, that would be awesome for our listeners to hear.
Bob Schlesinger: Sure. I’m a pianist who lives here in Boulder and I’ve been playing around the area for years with a lot of different bands—usually not under my own name. This was a chance to do that. I got a grant from Pathways to Jazz to go to New York and record with the great jazz bass player Eddie Gomez.
I heard you play a Bill Evans track a little bit ago—Eddie played with Bill for, I think, 17 years. So that’s a nice tie-in. You also played Miles Davis tracks. I had gotten to know Mike Stern, the guitarist who used to play with Miles Davis, and I was able to bring him in on what was going to be one track, but we ended up recording 10 tracks with him.
One of my heroes. So this is a quartet album with Eddie Gomez and Mike Stern, and it just dropped a week ago.
Kooter Jones: You’ve been—
Bob Schlesinger: —working on it for about seven years. So it’s out now. We have an album release concert at Dazzle on August 14th down in Denver. And, yeah, it’s been an interesting journey.
Kooter Jones: I was pretty fascinated when I started reading through the liner notes and seeing all the people you mentioned being involved. That inspired me to play some Bill Evans as well as Miles Davis, along with your music. Are you based in Boulder?
Bob Schlesinger: That’s correct, yeah.
Kooter Jones: Awesome. Is this release party on the 14th at Dazzle the only upcoming show in the area?
Bob Schlesinger: For now. I’ve really been focused on getting this project out, so we booked this concert and then I’ll see what else wants to happen after that. I’m getting some airplay around the country, which is awesome. I’ve been pretty focused on this, so I think there’ll be more gigs, but nothing else is on the books right now.
Kooter Jones: I really just wanted to have you on to hear from your perspective about how this project came together, as well as hear some of your music and let people know about the album release party at Dazzle on the 14th. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about regarding the release, or anything you want to add?
Bob Schlesinger: Well, you know, we’re doing something a little different. These days it seems like everyone expects the music to be on all the streaming platforms and to just have it whenever they want—and typically the artists don’t get paid. I’ve got years and dollars invested in this project.
So what we’ve done is release a couple singles. Bayonne Blues, which you played, was one. There’s another tune—I did a cover of Bob Dylan’s It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding. If people want to hear the rest, it’s available as digital downloads in all formats, CDs, and on audiophile 180-gram double vinyl (two albums).
One of the things I want to talk about that’s pretty unusual is that Mike Stern came to Boulder after we recorded in New York, and we went into Coupe Studios here in town. We recorded two different tunes—Bayonne is one, and another called Easy Off Ramp—that started as jams in the studio and were pieced together in post-production.
What I didn’t realize until later was that Miles Davis had some seminal albums—Bitches Brew and A Tribute to Jack Johnson—that were completely pieced together. They were recorded in different studios with different musicians over different years, and his producer, Teo Macero, spliced together the tracks. When you hear Bitches Brew, it was completely assembled that way.
That’s what we did on Easy Off Ramp. It started from a series of jams, and my producer John March, who lives in Spain, and I went through them and started molding the track. Originally, it was 30 minutes long; we pared it down to 13 minutes. It’s through-composed, with different players recorded at different times over a couple of years.
So it’s a unique piece of work—really beautiful and unusual. And there’s the tie-in of having a great jazz guitarist who worked with Miles Davis playing on a Miles Davis-style Bitches Brew tune. I really hope people check it out and decide they want to own it.
We also had Peter Gabriel’s designer create the album cover, and some fabulous players in addition to Eddie Gomez. I hope people will go to my website—bobschlesingerjazz.com—where they can get information about the album, read the liner notes, listen to snippets, order it, and I’ll be happy to sign it for them.
And then, of course, Dazzle on August 14th—down in Denver in the Performing Arts Complex. We play from 7 to 8:30 next Thursday night. I really hope people will come down and hear my trio play music from the album.
Kooter Jones: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that about Easy Off Ramp. That sounds like a really neat track and something I definitely want to hear.
Bob Schlesinger: It’s a little long, but I’d love it if you’d play it.
Kooter Jones: Right now I just have the two tracks you mentioned with me, but I can get back on the phone with you and maybe we can get it over here to play before the end of the show.
Bob Schlesinger: Yeah, I’m happy to drop off a CD for you.
Kooter Jones: Cool. If not tonight, then absolutely soon. Right now I was going to play the track you were talking about since I have it here in the studio.
Bob Schlesinger: Oh, great. We did an interesting treatment of that song—sort of stole some approaches from the ECM catalog, and Billy Preston, who used to play with the Beatles, did a version of it. I stole some gospel licks from that. I’m happy to have you play it.
Kooter Jones: Nice. I’m excited to play it. I listened to it already and really enjoyed it.
Bob Schlesinger: Cool, I appreciate that.
Kooter Jones: Well, Bob, thank you so much for coming on and talking about the music and the upcoming show at Dazzle on the 14th.
Bob Schlesinger: I really appreciate you. It’s been my pleasure to join you and discuss music.
Kooter Jones: Yeah, no problem. It’s been my pleasure as well. So I think we’ll just get right back and hear some more music from the upcoming release Falling from Earth by Bob Schlesinger.
Bob Schlesinger: Thank you so much.
Kooter Jones: Yeah, thank you, Bob. All right, have a good rest of your evening.
Bob Schlesinger: You too.
Kooter Jones: Thank you.
