Either/Orchestra Celebrates 20th with New Friends

Left to right: Baritone saxophonist Sam Rivers; saxophonist & composer
Russ Gershon; masinko player Setegn Atenaw; percussionist Vicente
Lebron; vocalist Hana Shenkute (in foreground)

An audience of about 700 witnessed the remarkable collaboration between three expatriot Ethiopian musicians and Boston's own Either/Orchestra at Berklee Performance Center on Saturday. Part of the Celebrity Series' Boston Marquee, the concert was a celebration of the Either/Orchestra's 20th anniversary, though appropriately it was a snapshot of a working band and not a retrospective. Vocalist Hana Shenkute, krar player (krarist?) Minale Dagnew, and masinko virtuoso Setegn Atenaw, all of whom currently live in Washington, D.C., joined saxophonist and composer Russ Gershon and his Either/Orchestra to give rousing testament to the success of their cross-pollination. In addition to high-energy singing and dancing and numerous costume changes by vocalist Hana Shenkute, select members of the Either/Orchestra took a brief masinko (Euro-centric definition: 1-string violin) lesson onstage with Mr. Atenaw (think Suzuki violin recital). Many jazz lovers in the audience (including this one) had never heard anything quite like this hybrid music - outside of an Either/Orchestra recording, that is.