Equally schooled in hip-hop and progressive jazz, Philly’s Corey Bernhard has been an imaginative player in Philly music for the past decade. The pianist and band leader’s experimental collective Killiam Shakespeare spent the 20-teens delivering spacey jams and collaborating with noteable Philadelphians like Bilal, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Freeway, and Noel Scales.
Lately, Bernhard’s main gig has been playing keys on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, but recently he found time to record his debut solo album, A Blessed Leap Into Eternity, which came out at the top of this year. It’s gorgeous and reflective, using moving instrumental arrangements to contemplate community, family, and spirituality, and he recently showcased it in the WXPN Performance Space for this simmering Key Studio Sessions set.
In it, Bernhard and is joined by the rhythmic core of his ensemble, Lenny Mobley on drums and Jon L. Smith on bass, and they trade solos and set vibes on these three songs from Eternity. The middle cut, “It’s Gone Be Sweet,” hits particularly hard with its sampled chorus of ghostly, warbling voices weaving in and out of the song, recreating a saxophone lead on the album. But don’t sleep on the driving grove of opener “Sagittarius,” or Mobley’s explosive drum solo on the closing “Requiem For Saint James.”
This weekend, Corey Bernhard’s Eternity Ensemble has two gigs on the calendar: Saturday, March 15th, they’ll play Brothers Wash & Dry in Queens, New York — tickets and information here — and this Sunday, March 16th, they come home to Philly to play St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in East Kensington — tickets for that show can be found here. Watch Corey Bernhard’s Key Studio Sessions set in the player above and see more photos from the session in the gallery down below.