Either/Orchestra Plays éthiopiques

A veteran of Boston’s fertile early 80’s punk scene, educated by a deep teenage immersion in the New York jazz scene of the ’70’s, saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon founded the ten-piece Either/Orchestra in Cambridge MA in 1985. In the words of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “the E/O salutes the past while embracing the future.” Drawing from the entire history of jazz, with liberal doses of “non-jazz,” the E/O created an organically inclusive vision of music.

Schooled in the DIY ethic of Sun Ra and the punk rockers, Gershon and company achieved the unlikely feat of crisscrossing the US by van from the 1980’s to the 2000’s, bringing adventurous large ensemble jazz to big cities and small towns. They group recorded a series of albums including the Grammy nominated Calculus of Pleasure (1992) and provided a launching platform for future jazz stars including John Medeski, Matt Wilson, Miguel Zenon and Jaleel Shaw.

In 1994, the band’s regular collaborator, the late Mark Sandman of the band Morphine, returned from a European tour with copies of a deliciously named CD: Ethiopian Groove: the Golden ’70’s. Featuring the best tracks from Ethiopia’s late Haile Selassie-era music scene, the album mesmerized Gershon, who began arranging the music for the E/O a few years later. This exotic music proved to be band and audience favorites, featuring heavy African grooves and unfamiliar scales melded with North and Latin American styles.

At Big Ears, The ten-piece E/O will be joined by legendary Ethiopian vocalist Bruck Tesfaye and younger gen vocalist Munit Mesfin for a dive into their Ethiopian songbook. Selections from their new release éthiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopianand 2005’s éthiopiques 20: Live in Addis.