THE EITHER/ORCHESTRA
The Either/Orchestra presents their Ethiopian Suite, with leading Ethiopian pop and jazz musician Mulatu Astatqe.

World Financial Center Winter Garden
Friday, November 12th at 7PM
220 Vesey Street
Battery Park City ››› Directions
Admission FREE

» New Sounds Live 2004-2005 Concert Season
» New Sounds Live Concert Broadcasts on New Sounds The Either/Orchestra and special guest Mulatu Astatqe, the musical innovator of the Ethiopian groove, present their intriguing mix of hypnotic Eastern sounds, afro-jazz grooves, and punchy funk in their Ethiopian Suite. Hear 1970’s Ethiopian pop songs "Amiak Abet Abet" by Teshome Sissay, "Musicawi Silt" by Girma Beyene, and "Feker Aydelmwey" by Ayalew Mesfin in exuberant and infectious E/O arrangements. This exotic weave fuses the familiar sounds of jazz orchestra with the dazzling trance-inducing sensuality of East African music. Don’t miss this imaginative adventure from America to Africa and back, by way of tropical and Latin rhythms, with nods to James Brown, John Coltrane and Lester Young along the way.

Mulatu Astatqe
Mulatu Astatqe is one of Ethiopia's major musicians. In the late 1950s, he travelled to London, and later Boston and New York, absorbing jazz and Latin music, recording several LPs (one of which, Mulatu of Ethiopia, has become a legend among DJs in recent years), and eventually bringing both modern jazz and Latin influences and specific instruments back home to Addis Ababa. On piano, organ, vibes and percussion, with his arrangements and compositions, and as an agent provocateur, he became a pivotal figure in a great era of Ethiopian pop and jazz, from 1968 to 1974. To this day, he remains a ubiquitous presence in the Ethiopian music scene, as club owner, music school founder, radio DJ, composer, arranger and instrumentalist.

The Either/Orchestra
The Either/Orchestra is among the longest running and most important large ensembles in jazz. The ten-piece jazz ensemble - two trumpets, trombone, three saxophones, piano, acoustic bass, drums and congas – is based in Cambridge Massachusetts. Since 1985, under the direction of founding saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon, the group has traversed the history and stylistic range of jazz to make great music out of unexpected connections between styles and approaches to music. Like the late Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the E/O has been a kind of graduate school of jazz, whose alumni include John Medeski, Matt Wilson, Josh Roseman and Miguel Zenon, among dozens of other significant players. In 1997, inspired by the work of Mulatu Astatqe among others, the E/O began playing their own arrangements of Ethiopian popular music, which garnered them an appearance at the Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Ababa in January 2004, the first Americans ever invited. In Addis, the group met Mulatu and invited him to play on their concert, with results that surprised and delighted the audience and critics.


Additional Resources:
» Either/Orchestra's website
» New Sounds Live 2004-2005 Concert Season
» World Financial Center
» New Sounds Live Concert Broadcasts on New Sounds