Corey Bernhard, ‘Late Show’ keyboardist and Philly resident, explores spiritual connections on latest album

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While juggling his main gig as the keyboardist for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Philly resident Corey Bernhard has taken “A Blessed Leap into Eternity” with his latest solo album.

Across seven tracks on his sophomore release, Bernhard combines his love for classic modal and free jazz compositions with soundscapes and hip-hop influences that carry over from his debut album. Bernhard said when he first joined The Late Show Band in 2023, he devoted a lot of his time to getting acclimated with “the flow of things,” as well as the band’s repertoire.

“Once I became a little more comfortable with how things worked with the musical selections that we do, a little bit of time opened up to be able to try to sneak away and write some music and record and work on a project,” Bernhard said.

“It’s different … because you don’t have a lot of uninterrupted time or days,” he said. “But it can allow you to kind of reflect on what you’ve already done and hear things with fresh ears, which I think was a really big help in making this project.”

Bernhard was born and raised in Massachusetts before attending Harvard University and obtaining a degree in economics. After graduating, he spent years playing music between Boston and Brooklyn before working with Bilal and Marsha Ambrosius in Philadelphia.

“On top of that, my wife was studying at Drexel getting a master’s degree,” Bernhard said. “Musically and romantically, my heart was in Philly and I kind of just fell in love with the city, there’s so much magic and mystery in Philadelphia.”

His collaborative efforts across the Northeast led to him getting picked to fill in for The Late Show Band after its original band leader, Jon Batiste, left and Louis Cato began fronting the band.

“The same guys and friends that I was hustling with in Boston and Brooklyn are the people that I play on the show with now,” Bernhard said. “And since Jon was a pianist, they needed a keyboard player to come in and fill that spot.”

“So one day I got a text that said, ‘Hey, can you come play with The Late Show Band next week?’ I said ‘sure,’” Bernhard said. “And then at the end of that week, I got another text. ‘Can you come back next week?’ And a week turned into a month, and then it just turned into, ‘Why don’t you join the band?’”

Bernhard said working with a group of virtuoso musicians “who all have a pretty deep spiritual connection to their instrument” rubbed off on him as he found the time to craft his new compositions.

“Being around that every day, I don’t think it was a conscious thing where I said, ‘Hey, I want to make a record that explores more of that side of musicianship,’” Bernhard said. “But listening back, I think that was a big part of coming in every day and playing with this group of people.”

The Germantown resident recorded his new album with Michael Cumming at his studio in Kensington, who has worked closely with the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Bernhard recruited many Philly collaborators to perform with him, including Yesseh Furaha-Ali, of Snacktime, bassist Jon Smith, who performed on Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales, and drummer Lenny Mobley, who’s worked with Lauryn Hill and Musiq Soulchild.