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| The Either/Orchestra Returns to the Stone Church Grammy-nominated, globe-trotting, ten-piece jazz/latin/Ethiopian band The Either/Orchestra lands in Newmarket for Saturday night show. The Stone Church will play host to Boston's Either/Orchestra on Saturday, October 13. Led by saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon, the E/O features a six-piece horn section, piano, bass, drums and congas playing a unique mix of jazz, Latin and Ethiopian music. Over the decades, the E/O has shown a remarkable ability to put on a dynamic show appealing to all music audiences while satisfying the jazz hard-core. The E/O has earned encores and standing ovations in concert halls, jamband, rock and jazz festivals, clubs and colleges. The E/O has been nominated for a Grammy, won five Boston Music Awards, four Boston Phoenix Readers polls and virtually owns the Big Band Rising Star category in the Down Beat International Critics Poll, having won ten of the last twelve years. Former band members include such jazz stars as John Medeski, Matt Wilson and Miguel Zenon, and the current group is just as talented. Critics have written “The ingenuity and power expressed by the E/O can not be matched by any band, period.” (jambands.com); “One of the jazz world's most gifted and adventurous bands... supple Latin jazz, sinewy blues, sly funk and slippery world-beat rhythms.” (Washington Post); “An international, pan-continental swingfest...one of the first great big jazz bands of the new millenium.” (New Jersey Star Ledger); “The best-kept secret in jazz.” (Sydney Australia Morning Herald); “Thrilling charts and hip juxtapositions of classic jazz, cool pop, and forward-looking original tunes.” Billboard; “This amazing ensemble does just about everything right” (Richard Gehr, Village Voice). Their most recent CD Ethiopiques 20: Live in Addis (Buda Musique), was recorded during a historic trip to Ethiopia in, as the E/O became the first US big band in Ethiopia since the Duke Ellington band in 1973. Live in Addis reached number 3 on the College Media Journal charts and received such reviews as “Astonishing...monumental...the best live album of the year--in any genre” (Paul Olson, AllAboutJazz.com) and “Sends the senses into the very heart and soul of communal human love...A force that dares to break barriers” (Lofton A. Emenari III, WHPK, Chicago). The trip to Ethiopia resulted from the E/O's long involvement with Ethiopian music, which has continued in collaborations with Ethiopian greats such as Mulatu Astatke (composer of the Broken Flower soundtrack) and Mahmoud Ahmed (Ethiopia's greatest singer). A documentary DVD of their Paris concert with Mahmoud Ahmed has recently been released by Buda Musique. The E/O consists of Tom Halter and Dan Rosenthal, trumpets: Joel Yennior, trombone; Godwin Louis, alto saxophone and flute; Russ Gershon, tenor and soprano sax; Kurtis Rivers, baritone sax and flute; Rafael Alcala, piano; special guest Bridget Kearney, bass; Pablo Bencid, drums; Vicente Lebron, congas and percussion. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |