Club d’Elf has been helping audiences lose track of time for almost twenty seven years with its mesmerizing synthesis of Moroccan traditional music and electronic, dubbed-out funk. Circling about bassist/composer Mike Rivard, each Club d’Elf performance features a different line-up, drawn from a constellation of some of the most creative improvisers from the jazz, DJ, rock & world music scenes of Boston, NYC and beyond.
Named Jazz Act of 2023 in the Boston Music Awards, the bands music draws from a startlingly wide spectrum of styles that goes beyond any single category, including hip hop, electronica, avant garde, prog-rock and dub. Under the tutelage of member Brahim Fribgane (who was born in Casablanca) the band absorbed Moroccan trance music, which is now an essential part of the mix. Fribgane passed away in early 2024, but his spirit lives on in the music, particularly in Rivard’s commanding playing of the Moroccan sintir – an instrument he learned to play through the guidance of Fribgane, as well as Gnawa masters Hassan Hakmoun and Mahmoud Guinia. Trance forms the central core of the Club d’Elf aesthetic, weaving together the band’s various influences.
