Despite low ticket sales Friday night for the second set of the Either/Orchestra, the Maintenance Shop nearly reached capacity when staff allowed fans from the first show to stay on for the second.

Each member of the 10-piece jazz ensemble meandered on stage to add to the already-in-progress free solo vamp, which hinted at the style that was to come later in the show.

Thanks to the diverse background of the musicians, the sound had a unique, personal feel to it. Members came from a variety of places, from the Dominican Republic to South Africa to Plainville, Mass.

Either/Orchestra has a strong Latin rhythmic base led by drums and congas, setting a syncopated backbeat conducive for toe tapping and hand clapping. Each member took up percussion somewhere throughout the show, adding flavor.

Solos were typically theme-oriented and repetitive, with gradual variation, which tended to lead back into the main theme. The trumpets had hot Latin licks that focused on a single range throughout. The band seemed to struggle at times to reach the higher registers, which could have been due in part to having already played a first set.

Each chart typically started with an extended thematic solo that didn’t leave a lot of room for expansion. After more members had joined in, the trend of passing around the introduced theme continued until more solo breaks took place.

Band members used a variety of techniques for solos and created a variety of sounds from their instruments, not all of which were completely palatable. The jazz fan more versed in contemporary sounds may have found that the alto saxophonist relied too much on high-pitched honks, for example.

As a group, Either/Orchestra had a tight sound with strong attention to intonation. The entire horn section minded this well, as both the brass and winds were matched as well as could be expected. This presented a uniform, clean and pleasant sound. The horn section heavily employed the call-and-response technique, with its big-band sound contrasting nicely with the avant-garde free form solos.

The crowd was quite receptive to the sound, as the group received a standing ovation after the completion of its 3-song “Ethiopian Suite,” from its latest release.

The strong, funky rhythm brought out a large number of college-age listeners, possibly the most the M-Shop has seen for a jazz show this year. Medeski, Martin and Wood fans packed the show, as evident by the many obnoxious shouts for their music as an encore. The acclaimed pianist John Medeski is a former member of Either/Orchestra.

They didn’t perform any MMW songs, but Either/Orchestra provided a great show with a wide variety of jazz elements combining to form a rich and pleasing sound and inspiring a lot to talk about afterward.