"...James Brown-meets-Sun-Ra." - Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald
"One of the most inventive and ever-changing bands in all of new jazz" - Russ Davis, Jazz America
"....the lovechild of Pink Floyd and George Clinton, dropped in Marrakesh...deeply psychedelic...." - Marlon Bishop, WNYC
Club d'Elf celebrates its 20th anniversary with a show featuring keyboardist John Medeski and guitarist Will Bernard, and marks the release of Deluxe Anniversary digital editions of Electric Moroccoland and So Below. Newly recorded and unreleased tracks will be included. In the Spring the band will launch its first crowd-funding campaign for a new studio album.
“The roaring avant-funk of electric-era Miles (and) the legato drift of the Grateful Dead…heady music that doesn’t neglect the tail.” – Steve Smith, Time Out New York
Club d'Elf played its first show in February 1998 at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge MA, and has been captivating audiences ever since with its genre-defying sound.
The band's music has been called "the music of dreams" by the Boston Globe, and draws from a startlingly wide spectrum of styles, including jazz, Moroccan Gnawa, hip hop, psychedelia, electronica, avant garde and dub.
Circling about bassist/composer Mike Rivard and drummer Dean Johnston is an ever-changing constellation of the most creative improvisors from the spheres of jazz, DJ, rock and world music scenes in Boston, NYC, including international guests, as well. Each Club d'Elf performance features a different line-up, creating a unique experience for audience and musicians alike.
Under the tutelage of member Brahim Fribgane, the band absorbed Moroccan trance influences such as gnawa and Berber music from the High Atlas mountains. Rivard added the Moroccan sintir - a camel-skin covered bass lute - to his arsenal and features it regularly at shows. Trance forms the core of the Club d'Elf aesthetic, unifying its multiple genres.
Over the course of its 20 year history the band has toured nationally and internationally, and been joined by a mind-boggling array of special guests including Mark Sandman (Morphine), Hassan Hakmoun, Marc Ribot, Reeves Gabrels (Bowie/The Cure), Kenwood Dennard, Adam Deitch, DJ Logic, Ryan Montbleau, Marco Benevento, Skerik and Steven Bernstein among others.
John Medeski has been an unofficial member since the band's inception, and is featured on many of the bands twelve albums, including its most recent, Live At Club Helsinki. He joins Club d'Elf once again for this special anniversary show.
Special Guest: Will Bernard has hit the road extensively with his own bands or as a member of the Stanton Moore Trio, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Groundation, and many other lineups. As a leader Bernard has performed at The Monterey, North Sea, and numerous international festivals and clubs. His ensembles have opened for Herbie Hancock and the Head Hunters, Jimmy McGriff, The Funky Meters, John Scofield, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Zigaboo Modeliste and the Charlie Hunter Quartet.
As well as leading his own groups, Will performs regularly with the NY collaborative electro-funk band “Pleasure Drones”, the W-Beez (With Wil Blades), Peter Apfelbaum’s Sparkler and John Medeski’s Mad Skillet with Kirk Joseph and Terence Higgins.
Special Guest: John Medeski, of the genre-defying trio Medeski Martin & Wood, has garnered fans across the musical spectrum. Built upon jazz roots, electronics and rhythmic grooves, MMW have broken out of the traditional jazz sphere and have shared the bill with groups such as The Roots, Beck, A Tribe Called Quest, Ray Charles, Hermento Pascoal, and Phish, frequently appearing in venues unavailable to most jazz artists. Medeski’s recording credits include John Zorn, Iggy Pop, T Bone Burnett, Ray Lamontagne, Dan The Automator and k.d. Lang. Medeski has produced The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, pedal steel guitar group The Campbell Brothers, and two records from The Wood Brothers.
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