Whether it's the Collard City Growers community garden at midblock, the Missing Link AME Zion Church at the corner of 101st Street where North Central and South Lansingburgh meet or the Sanctuary itself, momentum is building to move the neighborhood ahead. Also involved is Troy Bike Rescue in the block to the south.
Chef Ellie Markovitch, right, prepares a “No Cook Stir-Fry” made from assorted veggies from the garden at the Collard City Growers garden in Troy. Markovitch uses food, photography and other means to get people to open up.
TROY -- The name of the Either/Orchestra is something of a misnomer. It may have fit them when saxman Russ Gershon founded the 10-piece little big band 25 years ago, but these days their musical approach is anything but either/or.
Instead, they seem to embrace it all, exploring a wide variety of musical styles and mashing them all up together into one glorious sound. At the Sanctuary for Independent Media on Sunday afternoon, the Boston-based band premiered a sprawling new composition by Gershon, "The Collected Unconscious," which, as he explained to the standing room only crowd at the Sanctuary, was about "mixing Ethiopian music with jazz and Latin music and discovering the similarities and connections."
S. Brian Willson is a Vietnam War veteran who lost his legs protesting the shipment of U.S. arms to Central America. Now he's touring the country using a pair of prosthetic legs and a three-wheeled hand-cycle to talk about his life and the virtues of a simple lifestyle, which he outlines in his book, "Blood on the Tracks."
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