Russ Gershon (born August 11, 1959) is an American saxophonist, composer and arranger, founder of the large jazz ensemble Either/Orchestra in Massachusetts in 1985. He received a Grammy nomination in 1992 in the category "Best Original Arrangement of an Instrumental Composition" for his "Bennie Moten's Weird Nightmare," recorded by the Either/Orchestra.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
A composer is a musician who is an author of music in any form, including vocal music, instrumental music, electronic music, and music which combines multiple forms. A composer may create music in any music genre, including, for example, classical music, musical theatre, blues, folk music, jazz, and popular music. Composers often express their works in a written musical score using musical notation.
The Either/Orchestra (E/O) is a jazz group formed by Russ Gershon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, in 1985. E/O is configured as a "small big band", with three saxes, two trumpets and one or two trombones. E/O's is characterized by a heavier and more orchestrated sound than that of a smaller jazz combo, but remains more streamlined and improvisation-oriented than most big bands.
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Gershon is the founder of the independent record label Accurate Records, which put out titles by Morphine, Medeski Martin & Wood, the Alloy Orchestra, Ghost Train Orchestra, the Either/Orchestra, Dominique Eade, Garrison Fewell and many others. He has been a member of rock bands the Decoders (1980–82), the Sex Execs (1982–84), Hypnosonics (1986-1999), Orchestra Morphine (2000–present) Bourbon Princess (2003–2008), as well as doing freelance studio and live work in the Boston area. A current project is the Latin Bugalú revival band "Lookie Lookie," where he plays tenor sax and flute, arranges and sings.
Morphine was an American alternative rock group formed by Mark Sandman, Dana Colley, and Jerome Deupree in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1989. After five successful albums and extensive touring, they disbanded after lead vocalist Sandman died of a heart attack onstage in Palestrina, Italy, on July 3, 1999. Founding members have reformed into the band Vapors of Morphine, maintaining much of the original style and sound.
Medeski Martin & Wood is an American avant-jazz-funk band formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass. The band is influenced by musical traditions including funk and hip hop and is known for an unconventional style sometimes described as "avant-groove".
Alloy Orchestra is a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, that performs its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era. Percussionists Terry Donahue and Ken Winokur and keyboardist Caleb Sampson founded the group in 1990. After Sampson's death in 1998, the band was joined by keyboardist Roger Miller, better known as the guitarist of post-punk band Mission of Burma. They have released four collections of film music and have toured both North America and Europe in support of cinematic shows.
Gershon's interest in Ethiopian popular music led him and the Either/Orchestra to begin playing his arrangements of that music in 1997. Their project was noticed by Francis Falceto, the French record producer who was responsible for the "Éthiopiques" series of CDs, dedicated to the documentation of the history of modern Ethiopian music in the 20th century. Through Falceto's connections, Gershon and the E/O were invited to Addis Ababa in 2004, the first American big band in Ethiopia since Duke Ellington's in 1973. Their principal concert in Addis, featuring several Ethiopian guests, was issued as "Ethiopiques 20: Live in Addis," and led to the beginning of collaborations with the major figures in Ethiopian music: Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed, Getachew Mekurya, Alemayehu Eshete and Teshome Mitiku. This work has continue with and without the E/O, including a fall 2016 tour where Gershon appeared with Ahmed's band at Carnegie Hall. Gershon has recently finished mixing "Ethiopiques 32: Nalbandian the Ethiopian" (Either/Orchestra), devoted to the music of Armenian expatriate Nerses Nalbandian, who was a dominant force in Ethiopian music from 1938-1974.He also toured with band Orchestra Morphine to honor his late friend Mark Sandman.
Francis Falceto is a contemporary French musicologist and music producer, specialising in World music and in particular music of Ethiopia which he helped propagate internationally from 1986 onwards.
A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performer's music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many, varying roles during the recording process. They may gather musical ideas for the project, collaborate with the artists to select cover tunes or original songs by the artist/group, work with artists and help them to improve their songs, lyrics or arrangements.
Éthiopiques is a series of compact discs featuring Ethiopian singers and musicians. Many of the CDs compile songs from various singles and albums that Amha Records, Kaifa Records and Philips-Ethiopia released during the 1960s and 1970s in Ethiopia. Prominent singers and musicians from this era appearing on Éthiopiques releases include Alemayehu Eshete, Asnaketch Worku, Mahmoud Ahmed, Mulatu Astatke and Tilahun Gessesse. However, some other releases contain new recordings.
Since 2013, Gershon has been teaching music history (blues, jazz, pop, classical) at Lasell College in Newton Massachusetts.
