Like a lot of Philly musicians, composer and keyboardist for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Corey Bernhard, loves a good jam session. Last year, he put together a jam session with a cause: to benefit families affected by ICE. Toya Haynes spoke with him recently about his upcoming benefit concert at Ortlieb’s, standing up for the First Amendment, and his dream jam session.
Toya Haynes, PSN: Tell us how A Jam Without Borders was created and what it’s meant to you.
Corey Bernhard: I had this idea of doing a jam session over the week between Christmas and New Year’s where people are at home and there’s sometimes not a lot going on. There’s a lot of jam sessions, especially in Philadelphia. We love to jam. It’s happening all the time, and it’s a lot of fun. But I started thinking, what’s our focus? And even before everything that’s been happening in Minneapolis, it was pretty obvious that ICE was outta control and really harming a lot of people’s lives, families’ lives, citizens, non-citizens, everybody.
And I just thought, maybe we could have a jam session where the proceeds went to benefit families who have been directly affected by ICE. So I teamed up with 4333 Collective, which is a promotion production group that puts on a lot of shows around Philly. They are connected to (community-led, Latine immigrant organization) Juntos and suggested them as a vetted, trustworthy partner to donate our proceeds to after the event.
Toya Haynes, PSN: What was the outcome of the first one?
Corey Bernhard: The first one was great. It was like a blank slate. We didn’t know what was gonna happen. We didn’t know who was gonna show up, what the vibe was gonna be, and it ended up being a great vibe, great turnout. Not only did we raise a lot of money for Juntos and families that are impacted by ICE but I think everybody that came and was a part of it also needed that space to be creative and just make music. Music has the potential to be extremely healing, to bring people together, to bring communities together, and create community. Afterwards, we felt like we needed to do this again. We gotta keep it going. So we ended up putting another one on the schedule for February.
Toya Haynes, PSN: As a member of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s house band, you guys aren’t unfamiliar with political controversy. You have been directly affected by the lack of respect this administration has for the First Amendment and media in general. How has that affected you as an artist?
Corey Bernhard: It’s affected me in a couple ways. I think, one, it’s very obviously real. It’s not a made up thing or a media talking point that this administration is clearly hell bent on disregarding all of our rights that are constitutionally protected in things like the First Amendment.
Secondly, seeing the way Stephen has handled the situation, not silent, not quieting his voice but calling it like he sees it and not being intimidated or changing his message, has also been inspiring in terms of having somebody to look up to. If they don’t have a problem standing up for themselves, none of us should.
Toya Haynes, PSN: So your latest album is Blessed Leap into Eternity. I personally want to ask you something as a music fan: I always think it is really fascinating, particularly with experimental jazz, how musicians can come up with an idea and have a completely instrumental piece that is saying something without using words. Much like looking at a piece of abstract art, one could say that the meaning can be entirely left up to the observer. However, in reading up on your album, there’s a song called “Sagittarius” that was inspired by your daughter who is a Sagittarius. Can you talk to me about that song and any other songs where you are expressing your feelings about things like family, love, social issues, etc. through just the music itself?
Corey Bernhard:. So yeah, like you said, “Sagittarius” was inspired by my daughter and trying to deal with things like youth, innocence and joy, but also, growing up in this wild world that she has to grow up in. “Hallelujah”, the first track, sets the tone for the whole project as like a leap of faith. “Requiem for St. James” was specifically for my friend James Casey, who had passed away a few months before we recorded. I would say it’s dealing with the emotion that comes with losing a friend.
Toya Haynes, PSN: The lineup for the next edition of A Jam Without Borders at Ortlieb’s includes Arnetta Johnson, Tone Whitfield, Nazir Ebo, Russ Gellman, Yesseh Furaha-Ali and Dayne Jordan. That’s an amazing lineup. I love to end interviews with a hypothetical question so here’s one last question: Living or dead, what lineup of musicians would be in your ideal jam session? Now, you’re on keys, so you get to stay on keys. It doesn’t have to be like the end all, be all lineup. Just one ideal line up.
Corey Bernhard: That’s so hard. That’s tough. I might not even wanna play at all. I might just wanna listen.
Duke Ellington is gonna be on piano. Thelonious Monk is gonna be on organ. I’ll play synth, I think. Tony Williams will probably be playing drums. Maybe Tony Williams and Roy Haynes. This is tough. Stevie Wonder on key bass. Herbie Hancock on Vocoder, obviously…
Toya Haynes, PSN: So many keys!
Corey Bernhard: Wayne Shorter and Miles (Davis) on Horns. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’m just gonna play tambourine. Give me a tambourine and a cowbell. Maybe Paul McCartney on bass. This is so funny.
Toya Haynes, PSN: Let’s go straight into vocals.
Corey Bernhard: Yeah. ’cause there’s already a lot going on. I wanna say Chaka Khan and Phife Dog. Oh and George Clinton. I think we need Bernie (Worrell) too. This is an orchestra! How big is this stage?
Toya Haynes, PSN: Oh it’s in a field, at this point. Just a wide open field.
Corey Bernhard: Man, thank you for that hypothetical dream.
Corey Bernhard and Friends: A Jam Without Borders to Benefit Families Impacted By ICE Via Juntos at Ortlieb’s is on Wednesday, February 11. Click here for details. For more about Corey Bernhard, visit linktr.ee/coreybernhard. To learn more about Juntos and the work they are doing, visit www.vamosjuntos.org.
