 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Russ Gershon (born August 11, 1959) is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and founder of the Either/Orchestra in Massachusetts in 1985.
Gershon founded Accurate Records, which has released albums by Morphine, Medeski Martin & Wood, the Alloy Orchestra, Ghost Train Orchestra, the Either/Orchestra, Dominique Eade, and Garrison Fewell. He has been a member of rock bands the Decoders (1980–82), the Sex Execs (1982–84), Hypnosonics (1986–1999), Orchestra Morphine (2000–present), and Bourbon Princess (2003–2008). He has worked as a studio musician and has performed in Boston.
In 1997, Gershon played arrangements of Ethiopian popular music with the Either/Orchestra. This drew the attention of Francis Falceto, who produced the "Éthiopiques" series of albums to document 20th century Ethiopian music. Through Falceto's connections, Gershon and his band were invited to Addis Ababa in 2004 and became the first American big band to perform in Ethiopia since Duke Ellington's in 1973. Their principal concert was released as the album Ethiopiques 20: Live in Addis and led to working with Ethiopian musicians such as Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed, Getachew Mekurya, Alemayehu Eshete and Teshome Mitiku. In 2016 Gershon appeared with Ahmed's band at Carnegie Hall.
Grammy Award nomination, Best Original Arrangement of an Instrumental Composition, "Bennie Moten's Weird Nightmare"
With Either/Orchestra
With Morphine
With others
Morphine was an American rock band formed by Mark Sandman, Dana Colley, and Jerome Deupree in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1989. Drummer Billy Conway replaced Deupree as the band's live drummer in 1991. Deupree recorded the album Cure For Pain, with the exception of the title track which was recorded by Conway, before being permanently replaced by Conway in 1993. Both drummers appeared together during a 15 date US tour in March of 1999. 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 at the Nel Nome Del Rock Festival. Founding members have reformed into the band Vapors of Morphine, maintaining much of the original style and sound.
Ethiopian music is a term that can mean any music of Ethiopian origin, however, often it is applied to a genre, a distinct modal system that is pentatonic, with characteristically long intervals between some notes.
B-Sides and Otherwise is a rarities compilation album by the alternative rock band Morphine, released in September 1997 by Rykodisc. It features B-Sides and other rare tracks not otherwise available on the band's studio albums.
Amha Records was an Ethiopian record label founded by Amha Eshete. The company released 103 singles and 12 albums between 1969 and 1975.
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.
Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of "Ethio-jazz".
Mark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.
Mahmoud Ahmed is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, before rising to international fame with African music fans in Europe and the Americas.
The Either/Orchestra (E/O) is a jazz group formed by Russ Gershon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, 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.
Getatchew Mekurya was an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist.
Buda Musique is a French record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1987 by Gilles Fruchaux and Dominique Buscall. After Buscall died in 1990, Fruchaux became the sole owner. The label is especially known for its Éthiopiques series.
Tizita is one of the Pentatonic scales or Qañat of the Amhara ethnic group.
Dana Colley is an American musician, best known as the baritone and tenor saxophonist in the alternative rock band Morphine.
Walias Band were an Ethiopian jazz and funk band active from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. Formed by members of the Venus Band, Walias backed up many prominent singers with a hard polyrhythmic funk sound influenced by western artists like King Curtis, Junior Walker and Maceo Parker. In 1977 they recorded one of the few albums of Ethiopian instrumental music in collaboration with vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, whose role as a bandleader and composer was also a major influence on Ethiopian popular music.
Selam Seyoum Woldemariam, also known as Selamino, is an Ethiopian-born Eritrean musician and guitarist. He has turned out 250 albums in his more than forty years as a professional musician. He has been called "The Jimi Hendrix of Ethiopia" and is a national legend.
Imperial Tiger Orchestra is a Swiss group of modern popular Ethiopian music. Its name hints at the Imperial bodyguard band of the Halie Selassie era and Monty Python’s “Tiger in Africa” sketch. It was formed after a jam organized by Genevan trumpet player Raphaël Anker. The band has released three albums and played in Europe, Southern Africa and Ethiopia. It also worked with Ethiopian musicians such as Endress Hassen and the singer Hamelmal Abate.
Jeremy Udden is an American musician, composer, and educator. Proficient in both the Alto and Soprano Saxophone, Udden also composes songs for his groups, Plainville and Torchsongs Trio. His most notable albums from these groups include If the Past Seems So Bright, Plainville, and Torchsongs. He has performed at a variety of venues, including Merkin Hall, Cornelia Street Cafe, and Carnegie Hall. Critics describe Udden's style as "melodic jazz-rock" and a "marrying of country, surf rock and blues." He was born in Plainville, Massachusetts and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, where he teaches at the Packer Collegiate Institute.
Debo Band are a Boston-based Ethiopian music band led by saxophonist Danny Mekonnen and fronted by vocalist Bruck Tesfaye. Ranging from 10–12 members playing horns, guitars, violins, percussion, and accordion, their sound incorporates Ethiojazz, folk, and pop styles from the Horn of Africa infused with tinges of motifs from Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as punk, experimental, and psychedelic rock. Rolling Stone described Debo's sound as, "guitar solos, massed vocals, violin and brass [that] rush in like a Red Bulled marching band...Dance at your own risk."
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.
The Ethiopian Golden Age of Music was an era of Ethiopian music that began around the 1960s to 1970s, until the Derg regime progressively diminished its presence through politically motivated persecutions and retributions against musicians and companies, which left many to self-imposed exile to North America and Europe. Several artists and musical companies, as well as recording groups, emerged to produce their own singles and albums; the first being Amha Records, and Philips Records, Ethiopia Records and Kaifa Records, which is primarily based in Addis Ababa.
