17 December - Either/Orchestra

Since the band's inception in 1985, the guiding force behind Either/Orchestra has always been composer and tenor/soprano saxophonist Russ Gershon. Under Gershon's leadership, the ensemble has successfully balanced serious musicianship and respect for the jazz tradition with a quirky and sometimes off-the-wall sense of humor.

Between 1987 and 1996, Either/Orchestra released six CDs on Gershon's Accurate Records label: Dial "E" (1987), Radium (1988), The Half Life of Desire (1990), The Calculus of Pleasure (1992), The Brunt (1994), and Across the Omniverse (1996), a ten-year retrospective of previously unreleased material.

Gershon trumpeter Tom Halter and trombonist Russell Jewell are present throughout all of these recordings; alto/baritone saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase is also an important ongoing E/O member who made his first appearance on Radium. As the band underwent various personnel changes during its first decade, several noted musicians came and went, including keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Matt Wilson, trombonists Josh Roseman and Curtis Hasselbring, and saxophonist Andrew D'Angelo. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.