Club d’Elf celebrates 25th anniversary w/ NYC show at Drom on April 15

Tickets on sale now! [View in browser]( Psychedelic dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf celebrates 25th anniversary w/ NYC show at Drom on April 15. For twenty-five years now, Boston-based dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf has been helping audiences lose track of time while creating mesmerizing musical chimeras that weave their distinct, Moroccan folk-infused trance with elements from an astonishing spectrum of other styles, including jazz, hip-hop, electronica, avant-garde, prog-rock, and dub. To celebrate its silver anniversary, Club d’Elf has been in the midst of a 25th anniversary tour that has taken the band throughout the Northeast and as far west as Colorado. On Saturday, April 15 the tour makes a stop in NYC at Drom in the East Village. [GET TICKETS]( With founder/bassist/composer Mike Rivard at the core, every Club d’Elf performance and recording over the past two-and-a-half decades has featured an ever-evolving and revolving cast of players, drawn from a who’s who list of the most sought after and creative improvisers from the jazz, DJ, rock & world music scenes of Boston, NYC and beyond. For the show at Drom Rivard will be joined by an all-star band consisting of some of New York City's finest players: Will Bernard (John Medeski's Mad Skillet/T.J.Kirk) on guitar, Adam Platt (Louis C.K./DJ Spooky) on keyboards, Curtis Hasselbring (Either-Orchestra/Medeski Martin & Wood) on trombone, and Eric Kalb (Sharon Jones/Deep Banana Blackout) on drums. "Will was introduced to me by Medeski, and has a multi-faceted style that really fits the music", Rivard enthuses. "Eric (Kalb) recently came back into the fold, and was famously part of the "Stonehenge band" that did a 2002 d'Elf tour of the South. Curtis (Hasselbring) and I have the longest history, having toured with Either-Orchestra back in the late 80s when the band included Medeski and (original Morphine drummer) Jerome Deupree. Adam (Platt) is the new guy in the band, and has integrated really well into the band's sound. There's always an extra element of excitement when playing in NYC, and I'm really excited to have these guys onboard!" Club d’Elf began in 1998 at the Lizard Lounge as a kind of controlled jam session, featuring Rivard’s friends and associates from various bands. Mark Sandman (Morphine) was an important catalyst, suggesting that it was time for Rivard to form his own band. An in-demand sideman, Rivard had earned notice playing bass with Jonatha Brooke & The Story, Paula Cole, Either-Orchestra, and a Sandman side project, Hypnosonics. Rivard envisioned a band that wasn’t built around the specificity and spotlight that frontmen usually demand, but one that would facilitate and follow spontaneous cinematic soundscapes created by the unique contribution of each member of the collective. Out of the original d’Elf jam pool emerged a core group, usually augmented by one or two other players from a rotating cast. As part of the anniversary celebration, the band's debut album As Above, originally released exclusively on CD in 2000, became available for the first time ever on Spotify and all major digital streaming platforms. Recorded live over the course of six performances in 1999/2000 at Cambridge’s legendary subterranean venue The Lizard Lounge, the album’s twenty tracks eternalize the early days of Club d’Elf‘s development. The As Above digital re-release and the Spring 2023 anniversary tour both follow fast on the heels of the April 2022 release of You Never Know, the collective’s 3rd studio album (and its first since 2011). Touting an impressive lineup including John Medeski, Brahim Fribgane, Duke Levine, David Fiuczynski, Kevin Barry, Paul Schultheis, Dean Johnston, and Mister Rourke, the well-received album reached #2 on the Relix Chart. The album features Rivard’s commanding playing of the sintir, a three-stringed bass lute used in trance-healing ceremonies in Morocco. While the first half of YNK pays homage to some of the collective’s primary influences, with renditions of Gnawa and Sufi folk tunes and covers from Miles Davis, Joe Zawinul, Moroccan band Nass el-Ghiwane, and Frank Zappa — the second half of the album consists of meditative and trance-laden original compositions inspired by a long, dark period in Rivard’s life following a harrowing health crisis in the remote Peruvian Amazon, and his eventual reemergence into the light. “Sort of a Joseph Campbell Hero’s Journey, I went through Chape Perilous and lived to tell the tale,” reflects Rivard. “During the period of my depression I was uncertain as to whether or not I had anything left to offer creatively, and going into the studio represented a “hail mary” on my part. I’m excited that it turned out as well as it did, and that I was able to assemble such an extraordinary crew of musicians to play with.” Fans have been treated to extraordinary musicianship across each of Club d’Elf’s 2023 tour dates, with special guests having included Medeski, Reeves Gabrels, Lyle Brewer (Neighbor), Rob Compa (Dopapod), and Duke Levine (Bonnie Raitt). Since the collective’s active personnel changes radically from show to show, many fans have their own favorite configurations of players. But that sort of constant flow and remixing of disparate talent means the music itself is also in constant flux. Individual songs can vary dramatically from performance to performance as new alignments of players make every moment fresh, with each show providing a wholly unique, and transcendent, musical experience. Club d’Elf Saturday April 15, 2023 Drom85 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009 (212) 777-1157 7pm doors, 7:30pm show $15 advance/$20door [www.clubdelf.com]( [GET TICKETS]( [App Store]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Spotify]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( You are receiving this email because you are signed up for JamBase Email Alerts. [Edit Your Profile]( • [Update Your Location]( • [Track More Bands]( JamBase 200 Portland Street, Ste 500, Boston, MA 02114 [Unsubscribe]( - [Unsubscribe Preferences](