Either/Orchestra

Either/Orchestra: New York City, February 11, 2011

by Daniel Lehner
February 24, 2011

Either/OrchestraLe Poisson Rouge New York, NYFebruary 11, 2011 If you graduated school to work for a law firm or a contracting company, your reunion would probably not be a raucous or joyous event. However, if you and your classmates went on to be the employees of Lee Konitz, Lester Bowie, Sam Rivers, Nnenna Freelon and Morphine--and if one of you founded your own company, called Medeski, Martin & Wood--there'd certainly be cause to celebrate. ...

Either/Orchestra: Mood Music for Time Travelers

by Ian Patterson
February 21, 2011

As saxophonist/founder Russ Gershon has noted, the 25-year history of the Either/Orchestra constitutes a quarter of jazz's eventful history. The changes in this large ensemble's music in part reflect wider trends and at the same time are the results of an organic evolution as members have come and gone. In the early years, Gershon plumbed the jazz cannon for repertory in addition to composing original material. However, arrangements of songs by Bob Dylan, Bing Crosby and Robert Fripp pointed to ...

Either/Orchestra: Mood Music for Time Travellers

by Jerry D'Souza
September 11, 2010

The past 25 years have been a time of transition for The Either/Orchestra. Members have come and gone and come back again. Their music has imbibed several styles and genres and grown all the richer. One of the sagest moves they made was the long, and fruitful, collaboration with Ethiopian music and with musicians that included Mahmoud Ahmed, Getachew Mekurya and Mulatu Astatke,For this recording, Russ Gershon wrote a couple of tunes geared to the organ after he ...

Either/Orchestra: Mood Music For Time Travellers

by Bruce Lindsay
September 4, 2010

A sense of calm and well-being pervades the Either/Orchestra's Mood Music For Time Travellers, investing its ten tunes with a warmth and good humor that makes the music immediately accessible, and also hides some of the compositions' complexities. It's a calm that comes from experience and confidence, this album celebrating Either/Orchestra's 25th year. The Massachusetts-based group, led by saxophonist and composer Russ Gershon, has a strong reputation for its work with Ethiopian musicians on albums such as ...

Jazz & Ethiopia: Etenesh & Le Tigre & Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra

by Tom Greenland
August 19, 2008

Eténèsh Wassié & Le Tigre (des Platanes) Eténèsh Wassié & Le Tigre (des Platanes) Budamusique 2007 Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra Budamusique 2007

Ethiopia, the first African country to gain independence, has a rich musical heritage of native songs and instruments and state-sponsored brass bands, mixed with various ...

Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra: Ethiogroove

by Jerry D'Souza
October 2, 2007

Mahmoud Ahmed & Either/Orchestra Ethiogroove Buda Musique 2007

Either/Orchestra has found a unique groove in Ethiopian music. Russ Gershon, the leader of the 10- piece big band, included three Ethiopian tunes on the ensemble's CD, More Beautiful Than Death (Accurate Records, 2000). Gershon continued to incorporate Ethiopian music into the band's repertoire. In 2004, Either/Orchestra traveled to Addis to play at a concert with Ethiopian musicians. The exciting and energetic performance is ...

Either/Orchestra: Ethiopiques 20: Live in Addis

by Jerry D'Souza
November 19, 2005

In January 2004, the Either/Orchestra went to Ethiopia to play at the Ethiopian Music Festival. The band has always been flexible in its vision, and so it comes as no surprise that the group decided to play Ethiopian music (the musicians were already familiar with it, having recorded “The Ethiopian Suite on More Beautiful Than Death). A natural progression was to invite Ethiopian musicians to join the group as guests. And so they got Gétatchèw Mèkurya, Mulatu Astatqé, Tsèdènia Gèbrè-Marqos, ...

Announcing the Winners of the "Either/Orchestra - Mood Music for Time Travellers" Giveaway

Source: All About Jazz
February 7, 2011

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Enter the "Either/Orchestra - Mood Music for Time Travellers" Giveaway

Source: All About Jazz
December 28, 2010

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Accurate Records “Either/Orchestra—Mood Music for Time Travellers“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on January 27th. Click here to enter the contest (Following the Either/Orchestra at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.) Good luck! Your Friends at Accurate Records About the Either/Orchestra and Mood Music for Time Travellers For 25 years, Boston's Either/Orchestra has been serving up musical repasts of savory, ever-evolving ...
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Boston's Either/Orchestra to Celebrate "Really Big Anniversary Concert" Dec. 16 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
November 20, 2010

The Either/Orchestra will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its first performance with a concert at Arlington's Regent Theatre on December 16 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students), and are available at the Regent box office or regenttheatre.com. The show will feature band founder Russ Gershon leading the ten current members of the E/O plus fifteen former members in a program which will span the band's repertoire of original compositions and often radical arrangements of jazz, with charts ...
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Either/Orchestra Celebrates 25th Anniversary with New CD + Shows

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
October 29, 2010

For 25 years, Boston's Either/Orchestra has been serving up musical repasts of savory, ever-evolving ingredients. Incorporating elements of American/Latin/Caribbean jazz and Ethiopian music with the big band format and the capacious musical vision of founder Russ Gershon, the 10-piece ensemble has long embraced a global array of influences and explored unforeseen improvisational frontiers. Now, marking their silver anniversary with the release of their first CD in five years (Mood Music for Time Travellers) and a series of celebratory shows and ...
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The Either/Orchestra turns 25 on December 17, 2010!

Source: Michael Ricci
August 31, 2010

For a quarter century, the Massachusetts-based ten-piece E/O has been exploring the borders of jazz, redefining what it means to be a “big band," expanding the palette of the jazz combo and building bridges between yesterday's jazz and tomorrow's. Founder/leader Russ Gershon's background and sensibility intertwine jazz with decades of American popular music; the group's travels and collaborations traverse jazz and Ethiopian music; its international lineup creates a unique, organic pan-American Latin jazz sound. The group has evolved through many ...
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The Either/Orchestra: Mood Music for Time Travellers (Accurate Records, 2010)

Source: Michael Ricci
August 31, 2010

Melodic, hooky, complex, witty, entrancing, passionate: Mood Music for Time Travellers is the E/O's first new album since 2005, and will introduce this 25 year old band to a new audience. Undeniably jazz, challenging and thought-provoking, the vividness and clarity of the writing and playing cuts across genre lines and the expectations of the listener and makes a deep impression on the wider audience as well as jazz cognoscenti. Mood Music contains ten new originals by leader Russ Gershon, bassist ...
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The Either Orchestra - Mood Music for Time Travellers (2010)

Source: Something Else!
August 8, 2010

By Mark SaleskiI'm going to begin by saying something that will probably horrify many a jazz lover: I never liked Duke Ellington or Count Basie all that much.It's true. I know that a jazz writer shouldn't be admitting to such things but sometimes you have to stick with honesty. OK, and while I'm at it? I got annoyed after they mentioned Louis Armstrong for the 427th time during that Ken Burns series. I thought, can somebody ...
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Either/Orchestra Take a Respite From Ethiopian Sounds to Present Jazz Originals

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
August 6, 2010

It's easy to take the Either/Orchestra for granted. The Boston 10-piece has been around for 25 years, putting out consistently excellent albums on its own Accurate imprint. But it's not an easy slog being in a band this size—it takes patience as well as a flair for scheduling, not to mention some creative accounting to keep the whole thing viable. It also takes a unique individual who is willing to play group parts, perhaps taking a solo only once or ...
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Either/Orchestra to Celebrate 24th Birthday at the Center for Arts in Natick (MA) on December 5

Source: Michael Ricci
November 23, 2009

The Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra will be celebrating it 24th birthday with a performance at 8 pm on December 5 at the Center for Arts in Natick (MA). The ten-piece group, of six horns, piano, bass, drums and congas, whose first show was on December 17, 1985 in the Children's Room of the Cambridge MA Public Library, will feature its distinctive mix of original jazz flavored with Latin and Ethiopian grooves. Only bandleader/saxophonist Russ Gershon and trumpeter Tom Halter remain from the ...
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The Either/Orchestra to Play the Lily Pad, Cambridge, July 12

Source: All About Jazz
June 30, 2009

The Either/Orchestra will be appearing at the Lily Pad in Cambridge, on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, two sets starting at 2 pm. We love these kid-friendly early Sunday shows, playing with minimal amplification in the tiny Pad. Suggested donation will be $12. http://www.lily-pad.net Sadly, it will be Godwin's Last Stand (with the E/O, anyway, for now...), as our fabulous alto saxophonist Godwin Louis has been accepted into the highly selective Monk Institute, located in New Orleans at this ...
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