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Either/Orchestra: Mood Music for Time Travellers

By Jerry D'Souza
September 11, 2010
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Either/Orchestra: Mood Music for Time Travellers

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

" data-original-title="" title="">Mahmoud Ahmed, Getachew Mekurya and

Mulatu Astatke

percussion

" data-original-title="" title="">Mulatu Astatke,

For this recording,

Russ Gershon

multi-instrumentalist
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Russ Gershon wrote a couple of tunes geared to the organ after he got a Hammond A-100. "Coolocity" hits the right grooves, a saucy tune that deftly blends different slices of musicality. The brass is seamless in its linearity and instead of merely serving as a complement to the soloist also turn around and become tangents from the main body. As the horns beguile, the rhythm of this catchy melody is blooded by Vicente Lebron and his array of percussive effects. It's all put together cohesively, sitting comfortably on the edge of complexity while divining an irresistible beat.

"Ropa Loca" is a delicious slice of Latin music. The horns, at first smooth and agile but by no means sappy, turn into sharp interjections when trombonist Joel Yennior comes in to solo and turns in a sheaf of endearing concepts. The saxophones are a natural in the scope of the performance, and both Gershon and Godwin Louis swing in with deep rooted alacrity. However, the final wisp adds a neat turn as

Henry Cook

flute

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Cook sails in and out on the gossamer wings of his flute.

Bassist

Rick McLaughlin

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Rick McLaughlin composed the majestic "Thirty Five" with

Fela Kuti

saxophone
1938 - 1997

" data-original-title="" title="">Fela Kuti in mind. He used the Ethiopian anchi hoye mode which gives the tune a distinct essence and turns it into poetry in motion. The tinkle of the piano, the resonance of the bass, the jingle of the cymbals welcome the saxophone as it delineates the refrain. And as the charts of this outfit dictate, the ensemble comes in all silken and near classical in mood to complete the harmonic progression.

The one defining constant about The Either/Orchestra is that they never compromise artistic integrity. Time could well have made them jaded, instead they continue to entrance and entertain as this CD evidences.

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Track Listing

The (One of a Kind) Shimmy; Beaucoups Kookoo; Coolocity; Portrait of Lindsey Schust; Ropa Loca; Thirty Five; Latin Dimensions; The Petrograd Revision; Suriname; History Lesson.

Personnel

Either/Orchestra

band / ensemble / orchestra

Russ Gershon

multi-instrumentalist

Daniel Rosenthal

trumpet

Tom Halter: trumpet; Daniel Rosenthal: trumpet; Joel Yennior: trombone; Godwin Louis: alto saxophone; Russ Gershon: tenor, soprano saxophones; Charlie Kohlhase: baritone saxophone (1, 2, 6-8); Kurtis Rivers: baritone saxophone (3, 9, 10); Henry Cook: flute (4, 5); Rafael Alcala: piano, Hammond B3 organ; Rick McLaughlin: double-bass, electric bass; Pablo Bencid: drums; Vicente Lebron: congas, bongos, percussion.

Album information

Title: Mood Music For Time Travellers | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Accurate Records

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