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Russ Gershon

E/O founder/leader/saxophonist/composer Russ Gershon was born in New York on August 11, 1959 and grew up in Westport Connecticut. After studying violin and piano as a wee small lad, under the influence of Rahsaan Roland Kirk and John Coltrane he gravitated to saxophone at age 17. During summers, he worked for his grandfather Joe Leon in New York's Garment District, in close proximity to the record stores and concert venues of Manhattan.

Deeply influenced by the bounty of New York jazz scene of the 1970s (from "Loft Jazz" to the Village Vanguard to the swinging West End to Carnegie Hall), he moved to Cambridge Massachusetts to attend Harvard College in 1977. On his way to a degree in philosophy (thesis on Le Dejeuner sur la Herbe, a painting by Manet), Gershon worked as DJ, jazz director and station manager of Harvard's radio station WHRB, where he produced or broadcast regularly scheduled jazz shows along with end-of-semester radio "Orgies" such as 78 hours of AACM music, 127 hours of Bebop, 52 hours of Charles Mingus, 52 hours of Ornette Coleman, and many more.

Early rock bands...

Swept up in the punk revolution of the late 70s and the punk/funk fusion beginning at that time, Gershon co-founded an eclectic rock band, the Decoders, which started on campus but soon began playing clubs around Boston, CGBGs and the Mudd Club in New York, and went on an extremely low-budget tour of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming in the summer of 1981 which gave the saxophonist a first taste of the touring which he would later continue with the Either/Orchestra. Guitarist Eric Pfeiffer later became the principal art director of Accurate Records, a label Gershon would found in 1987.

After graduation, the Decoders broke up and Gershon was quickly inducted into the Boston power pop/soul/punk band the Sex Execs in 1982. The Sex Execs included guitarist/saxophonist/double-visionary Sean Slade and bassist/producer Paul Kolderie, who have gone on to produce dozens of rock hits, including the recent "God Bless the Go-Gos." Also aboard was harmonica wiz Jim Fitting (later of Treat Her Right and The The), drummer Jerome Deupree.

Around the same time, Gershon was fortunate to play in the Illinois Jacquet-led student big-band at Harvard that revived the swing giant's interest in leading a big-band. The group exposed the young musicians to a man who remembered when jazz WAS rock and roll, and it made a deep impression. The band included saxophonists Don Braden, Henry Cook and Gwen Delbaugh and trombonist Josh Roseman.

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Interview

Russ Gershon: Time Traveler, Four Million Years Later

Read "Russ Gershon: Time Traveler, Four Million Years Later" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Twenty-five years is a long time in jazz. When saxophonist/composer/bandleader Russ Gershon founded the Either/Orchestra back in 1985, trumpeter Miles Davis was on the crest of his jazz/funk comeback wave, and the so-called Young Lions movement fronted by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was coming into prominence, just as Weather Report--the last of the great '70s fusion bands--was coming to an end. In those days, the orchestras of Cab Calloway, Buddy Rich and Sun Ra were still touring, and you could also ...

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Interview

Either/Orchestra Handles All Tough Turns of Jazz Road

Read "Either/Orchestra Handles All Tough Turns of Jazz Road" reviewed by R.J. DeLuke


Saxophonist Russ Gershon is on the horns of a dilemma with his sparkling band, the Either/Orchestra, the rock-solid 10-piece organization that churns out all kinds of music. The surprising sounds are steeped in jazz, but like a Luis Tiant pitch, the thunder the band emits can come from just about any angle. Critics have loved them. Yet gigs aren’t as plentiful as they should be for such a stellar group. Gershon – who’s tired, in a way, of winning Downbeat ...

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Interview

Either/Orchestra's Russ Gershon Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Either/Orchestra's Russ Gershon Interviewed at All About Jazz...and More!

Source: John Kelman

Twenty-five years is a long time in jazz. When saxophonist/composer/bandleader Russ Gershon founded the Either/Orchestra back in 1985, trumpeter Miles Davis was on the crest of his jazz/funk comeback wave, and the so-called Young Lions movement fronted by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was coming into prominence, just as Weather Report—the last of the great '70s fusion bands—was coming to an end. In those days, the orchestras of Cab Calloway, Buddy Rich and Sun Ra were still touring, and you could also ...

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Website

Meet Either/Orchestra's Russ Gershon on the AAJ Bulletin Board

Meet Either/Orchestra's Russ Gershon on the AAJ Bulletin Board

Source: All About Jazz


Primary Instrument

Saxophone, tenor

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