Club d'Elf merchandise

Perhapsody: Live At The Lizard Lounge 10/12/2006

Now I Understand

The most recent live disc, this recorded in Oct '06 at the release party for Now I Understand and featuring John Medeski, Dave Tronzo, and Duke Levine. And end-of-year list favorite amongst reviewers, eMusic said "This live album is a simmering scorcher, a dance party for giggling pixies and darker spirits...(d'Elf are) perfect masters of one enchanted evening."

$21.00 (incl. s&h)
Direct from Kufala
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8 years in the making, NIU is Club d'Elf's debut studio album, which All About Jazz said"...sounds like lost Syd Barrett...an interstellar dub cryptogram that builds outward in layers..an electronic thrust into the blackest heart of modern darkness." With over 25 musicians, including DJ Logic, John Medeski, Mat Maneri, Joe Maneri, Billy Martin & many more. The music of dreams.

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US
$18 (inc. s/h)
Europe
$19.50 (inc. s/h)
Asia
$20.50 (inc. s/h)

Live at Vassar College, 2/26/01
Recorded in the serene and lovely acoustic environs of the Chapel at Vassar College during the band's first tour out of New England, with John Medeski, Mat Maneri, Brahim Fribgane & Randy Roos. All About Jazz said it "...serpentines between acoustic passages and electric ensemble crunches; King Crimson devotees would not blink at the lie that this is a newly discovered outtake from KC's progressive acoustic-electric masterpiece Larks' Tongues in Aspic."

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$21.00 (incl. s&h)
Direct from Kufala
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Live in NYC 4/20/00

Live at Athens, GA, 3/28/02
A document of Club d'Elf's first NYC show, with microtonal master Joe Maneri joining the band, along with son Mat, John Medeski & Brahim Fribgane, and inducing at least one audience member to go into trance! All ABout jazz described it as "...colorful, frantic and dangerous as Manhattan rush hour traffic."

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Direct from Kufala
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A funk-drenched document of the first journey to the South, recorded in Athens, Ga. with John Medeski, Mat Maneri, Reeves Gabrels & Brahim Fribgane. Crazewire called it "...something akin to skunky Jack Johnson Miles Davis flavored with the chop-and-cut of modern electric instrumentals. Think the Talking Heads’ Remain In Light stripped of the vocals and peppered with samples from David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label."

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$21.00 (incl. s&h)
Direct from Kufala
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Live at Tonic, NYC 5/26/04

100 Years of Flight Lizard Lounge 12/18/03
Recorded live at NYC's lost gem, Tonic and featuring John Medeski, Adam Deitch, and "...guitarist Marc Ribot, who rarely sounds this gonzo in his own bands. Turntablist Mister Rourke, also present on Gravity, is an integral part of the musical fabric...heady music that doesn't neglect the tail" - Time Out New York

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Recorded live at The Lizard Lounge on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Bros historic flight, with Dave Tronzo adding his slide and prepared guitar wizardry to Mat Maneri's eerie electric viola on tracks like "Sabbath" and Steven Bernstein's "Cave Man". Time Out New York said that it "...combines the roaring avant-funk of electric-era Miles with the legato drift of the Grateful Dead. Manic Berber bop, hypnotic Moroccan gnawa and blissful electronica are present in the mix as well."

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$21.00 (incl. s&h)
Direct from Kufala
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Gravity All Nonsense Now : Live at Lizard Lounge, 5/08/03

As Above

Recorded live at the Lizard Lounge, the dual guitars of Dave Tronzo & David "Fuze" Fuiczynski mesh with the turntables of Mister Rourke, to create a sound which Time Out New York described as"... at it's peaks conjuring Derek and the Dominoes floating on a cough syrup current".

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$21.00 (incl. s&h)
Direct from Kufala
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The debut album recorded live during 6 shows at the band's home base of The Lizard Lounge, and featuring DJ Logic, Joe & Mat Maneri, Kenwood Dennard, Reeves Gabrels, Duke Levine amongst others. Old-school d'Elf...The perfect place to start. "...everything from John Zorn to Chemical Brothers to bebop to John Cage to King Sunny Ade sonically exists on As Above, which blasphemously makes Club d'Elf a modern day William Blake." - Jambands.com

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US
$21.50 (inc s/h)
Outside US
$24 (inc s/h)
4 Directions Print Tryptich Prints


Club d'Elf in four directions

11" x 11", signed, limited edition of 25


US - $20 (inc s/h)


International - $23 (inc s/h)

17" x 11", signed limited ed of 50 - $15 

US - $20 (inc s/h)


International - $23 (inc s/h)
Club d'Elf Sticker Club d'Elf Bookmarks


$2 [ $1.50 + .50 S & H ]

Bookmark 1

US - $5 (inc s/h)


International - $7 (inc s/h)

Bookmark 2

US - $5 (inc s/h)


International - $7 (inc s/h)

Bookmark 3

US - $5 (inc s/h)


International - $7 (inc s/h)

 

Cover Art by Doug Sirois

Now I Understand

debut studio cd

Cover art by Doug Sirois

Club d'Elf Debut Studio Cd - Now I Understand

Club d'Elf's debut studio recording, Now I Understand, is finally available after 8 years in the making! This CD is actually just the tip of the iceberg, and represents "volume 1" of the studio sessions, with more to follow. This stunning audio kaleidoscope takes the listener through a strange and wondrous (and sometimes dark & scary!) journey through the many musical styles that Club d'Elf have ingested and digested, including jazz, hip-hop, electronica, rock, world trance, etc. Produced and arranged by bassist Mike Rivard (and mixes by Scotty Hard amongst others), it features the contributions of 25 musicians, including John Medeski, Billy Martin, DJ Logic, Brahim Fribgane, Mister Rourke, Mat Maneri, Reeves Gabrels, Dave Tronzo, Duke Levine, Alain Mallet, Gerry Leonard, DJ C, and many more, as well as an entrancing vocal turn on a 60's chestnut by Jenifer Jackson. The reviews have been flooding in, and here are a sampling:

"A suite with many colors and moods, grooves, and melodies changing at a moments notice... Something about the idea of so many minds and hearts involved here makes this one a winner...If techno has come full-circle, enveloping [its] creator even as it points to another world, this party of relative soloists and collaborators keeps me guessing and wanting to guess." -John Ephland, Relix

"Club D'Elf's debut studio CD is the sound of a Dali painting...beautiful, surrealistic...eclectic, funny, technically impressive and, well, just awesome." -Jon Nolan, The Wire, New Hampshire

"[A] spontaneous groove-laden trance music experiment." - Dave Medeloni, Berkshire Eagle (Massachusetts)

"The brainchild of Boston bassist Mike Rivard, Club d'Elf is a genre- shattering collective that merges jazz, hip-hop, electronic music, worldbeat and more...Now I Understand is both instrumentally compelling and utterly uncategorizable. The future starts here." - Michael Roberts, Westword, Denver

"This music takes its time, and only repeated exposure to its delights reveals the depth of its identity. There is an overriding sense of construction behind the entire programme of Now I Understand, [yet] this is music whose democracy is as profound as that of any piece of free improvisation." - Nic Jones, AllAboutJazz.com

"Put it on and go for a ride." - Miles Jordan, The Chico News & Review

"It took eight years...but Boston improvisational collective Club d'Elf has finally captured this city. Led by bassist Mike Rivard, Club d'Elf's first studio album, Now I Understand, translates the feel of a cross-city commute into music: layers of sounds from hip- hop to trance and a half-dozen world-music genres create moments of beauty..." - Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald

"If you want to hear a band who does it right, may I suggest Club D'Elf, whose Now I Understand (Accurate/Hi-N-Dry) is an album where you do not know what's coming next, even after three or four listens. [With] incredible down-tempo funk jams, tranquil jazz, African percussion [which will] take you to the motherland, these guys refuse to stay in one place at any given time and it's a joy to hang on and see where they take you next. Even with all of the diversity of music and musicians, it's not scatterbrained or disorganized at all....It's about unity, it's about community spirit, it's about one world, one music. Club D'Elf must have discovered some good hash somewhere, because once they hit that high, they thrive on the buzz and allow themselves to weave through it. All on one puff. - John Book, musicforamerica.org

"Club d'Elf is a fusion workshop, somewhat in the style of later Miles Davis or the Mahavishnu Orchestra, drawing together a range of players in a variety of genres to plumb jazz, dub, electronica, rock, trance, and the music of the Middle and Far East, with a heavy emphasis on Moroccan styles. Its core is bassist and sintir player Mike Rivard, a Berklee alumnus who began hosting biweekly d'Elf sessions at the Lizard Lounge in 1998. Affectionately dubbed ''Micro,'' Rivard's a legend around these parts, having come up with the Either/Orchestra and played with, among many others, the Story, Morphine and Patty Larkin." - Chad Berndtson, The Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger

"All-stars they are: Club d'Elf have to be one of the most fluent polyglot musical aggregations on the planet: straight-ahead and avant- garde jazz, Indian, African, Moroccan, blues, funk (always funk), pop." - Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

"Downtown jazz meets trance, Moroccan music, dub, electonica and jamband...the music's ambitious in its scope but navigated smoothly enough and with enough chops to cause musicians out there to take notes." -Tad Hendrickson, JazzWeek

"Club d'Elf's Mike Rivard can draw from an unbelievable talent pool [and] with the studio, Rivard can put together any band he wants, whether they could all be in the same room at the same time or not. Great performances litter Now I Understand, but John Medeski and Mat Maneri deserve special mention (just check the Mellotron/electric viola feature on "Bass Beat Box") for their near ubiquity on the album. Now I Understand isn't an improvement over the live d'Elf shows; it's a different side of the same organism. Consider it the polished gemstone to the uncut diamonds of the live releases. Excellent." - Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

Tracks : Introduction/Bass Beatbox/Hungry Ghosts/Quilty/Vishnu Dub/A Toy For a Boy/Luminous Things/What Would Cthulhu Do?/Now I Understand/ And Shadow Saw The Gods/Wetbones(extended)/Vision of Kali/Just Kiddin


Gravity All Nonsense Now : Live at Lizard Lounge
5/08/03
 2 CD Set

Disc 1 (Set 1) ( 78:51 )

1. Alap (D.Fiuczynski / J. Misner / D. Tronzo / E.Kerr / M. Rivard) (4:17)
2. Scorpionic (15:10)
3. Quilty (17:32)
4. Bass Beatbox (11:29)
5. Gravity All Nonsense Now Pt 1 (M. Rivard / D.Fiuczynski / E. Kerr /
D. Tronzo / J. Misner)
(6:53)
6. Dr. Smile (5:53)
7. Dreams Met (Yes) (5:56)
8. Gravity All Nonsense Now Pt 2 (J. Misner / M. Rivard / E. Kerr/ D.
Tronzo / D. Fiuczynski)
(3:05)
9. Dreams Met ( Yes ) / Dr Smile Reprise (:47)
10. Salvia Pt 1 (8:31)

Disc 2 ( 79:38 )

1. Salvia Pt 2 (M. Rivard / J. Faison) (8:48)
2. Big Light In Sky (12:05)
(Set 2)
3. The Tingler (18:46)
4. Nam-Shub Pt 1(J. Misner / M. Rivard / E. Kerr / D. Tronzo) (4:55)
5. Nam-Shub Pt 2 (D. Tronzo / M. Rivard / E. Kerr / D. Fiuczynski / J.
Misner) (5:33)
6. Fire In The Brain (16:04)
7. Fire Tangent (M. Rivard / E. Kerr / D. Tronzo / D. Fiuczysnki / J.
Misner ) (4:43)
8. Fire In The Brain Reprise (8:42)


Album Art by Peter Barrett


Club d'Elf :: Live at the Tonic, NYC
5/26/04
2 CD Set

Tonic, NYC 5/26/04

Personnel :

Marc Ribot, Guitar ( all except * )
Brahim Fribgane, Oud, Percussion, Voice
John Medeski, Keyboards ( appears c/o Blue Note Records )
Mister Rourke, Turntables
Mike Rivard, Electric & Acoustic Basses, Sintir
Adam Deitch, Drums
w/ Eric Hipp, Tenor Sax & Curtis Hasselbring, Trombone ( Disc 1 # 2 -
5, Disc 2 # 2 - 5 ), Josh Roseman, Trombone ( Disc 2 # 3 & 4 ), Richard
Zukowski, Voice ( * ).

Disc 1 ( Set 1 ) ( 57:14 )

1. Bass Beatbox ( 15:23 )
2. Scorpionic ( 14:21 )
3. Berber Song ( Trad. arr. by M. Rivard ) ( 6:57 )
4. You All Over Me (
M.Ribot/M.Rivard/A.Deitch/B.Fribgane/J.Medeski/J.Misner/E.Hipp/
C.Hasselbring ) ( 6:55 )
5.Berber Song Reprise ( 1:50 )
6. Challaban ( Trad. arr. by B. Fribgane ) ( 12:52 )

Disc 2 ( Set 2 ) ( 79:21 )

1. Dream Wanderer ( 12:57 )
2. The Tingler ( 16:03 )
3. Big Light In Sky ( 13:18 )
4. As Above ( 7:52 )
5. Trance Meeting ( 7:14 )
6. Sidi Rabi ( B.Fribgane/B. Atari ) ( 12:31 )

Encore
7. Between ( * )(
A.Deitch/B.Fribgane/J.Misner/M.Rivard/J.Medeski/R.Zukowski ) ( 9:16 )


Album Art by Peter Barrett

Club d'Elf :: 100 Years of Flight
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA
12/18/03
2 CD Set

12/18/2003 Cambridge, MA ( Lizard Lounge)

Personnel :

Dave Tronzo, Slide Guitar
Mat Maneri, Electric Viola
Mike Rivard, Electric & Acoustic Basses
Erik Kerr, Drums
w/ Lotfi Tiken, Voice, Bendir & Karakab (*)

Disc 1 ( Set 1 ) ( 65:18 )

1. Introduction ( :48 )
2. 100 Years Of Flight ( D. Tronzo/M.Maneri/M.Rivard/E.Kerr ) ( 16:37 )
3. Fire In The Brain ( M.Rivard ) ( 18:41 )
4. Jar Of Hair ( D. Tronzo ) ( 7:26 )
5. Big Light In Sky ( M.Rivard ) ( 4:50 )
6. Dream Wanderer Pt. 2 * ( M.Rivard ) ( 7:00 )
7. Mogador * ( M.Rivard ) ( 2:31 )
8 Al Aita * ( M.Rivard/E.Kerr/M.Maneri/D.Tronzo/L.Tiken ) ( 7:22 )

Disc 2 ( Set 2 ) ( 57:22 )

1. Sabbath ( M.Maneri/D.Tronzo/M.Rivard/E.Kerr ) ( 13:49 )
2. Cave Man ( S.Bernstein ) / Actual Smiles ( M.Rivard ) ( 15:04 )
3. Stripey Hole ( M.Rivard/D.Tronzo/E.Kerr/M.Maneri ) ( 3:49 )
4. Bass Beatbox ( M.Rivard ) ( 12:12 )
5. End Of Firpo ( M.Rivard ) ( 6:08 )
6. Instar ( M.Rivard ) ( 6:13 )


Album Art by Peter Barrett

Club d'Elf Live at Athens, GA
3/28/02
2 CD Set

3/28/02 Athens Georgia Theater

Personnel :

Reeves Gabrels ( guitar )
Mat Maneri ( elec viola )
Brahim Fribgane ( oud, voice, perc )
John Medeski ( keyboards ) ( appears courtesy of Blue Note Records )
Mister Rourke ( turntables )
Mike Rivard ( basses )
Eric Kalb ( drums )

Disc 1

1. Substance D - Phase 1( J.Misner/M.Rivard ) (3:08)
2. Substance D - Phase 2 ( M.Rivard/J.Misner/J.Medeski/R.Gabrels/M.Maneri ) (5:20)
3. Gator Geek ( M.Rivard/E.Kalb/J.Misner/B.Fribgane/J.Medeski/R.Gabrels/M.Maneri ) (4:42)
4. Uncle Skulky ( Rivard ) (10:08)
5. Bass Beatbox ( Rivard ) (10:56)
6. Ah Ya Win A Win ( Ness El Ghiwane ) (2:27) *
7. Route of the Root ( Rivard ) (8:26)
8. Scorpionic ( Rivard ) (6:31)
9. Athens Sha'abi ( M.Maneri/M.Rivard/E.Kalb/B.Fribgane/J.Medeski/R.Gabrels ) (2:59)
10. Sidi Rabi ( B.Fribgane/B.Atari ) (3:46) *

(54:42)

Disc 2

1. Fire in the Brain ( M.Rivard/M.Maneri/R.Gabrels ) (4:44)
2. The Tingler Pt.1 ( Rivard ) (13:54)
3. Percepto ( M.Rivard/E.Kalb/R.Gabrels/J.Misner/M.Maneri/J.Medeski/B.Fribgane )
(6:58)
4. The Tingler Pt.2 ( Rivard ) (2:57)
5. Left Hand Of Clyde ( Rivard ) (7:40)

Bonus track :
6. Shadow's Shift ( M.Rivard/M.Maneri ) (10:44)
Recorded 3/25/02 at Starr Hill, Charlottesville, VA. Same personnel, minus Reeves.

(46:59)


Album Art by Peter Barrett

Club d'Elf Live at Vassar College
2/26/01
2 CD Set

Vassar Chapel 2/26/01

Personnel :

Mat Maneri ( electric violin )
Brahim Fribgane ( oud, voice, percussion )
John Medeski ( keyboards )
Randy Roos ( guitar )
Mike Rivard ( basses )
Erik Kerr ( drums )


Disc 1 ( set 1 )

1. Big Light In Sky ( 12:53 )
2. The Tingler ( 16:19 )
3. Sidi Rabi ( B. Fribgane/ B. Atari ) ( 12:42 )
4. Scorpionic ( 10:53 )

Disc 2 ( set 2 )

1. Stigmata ( Maneri / Medeski / Roos / Kerr / Rivard / Fribgane ) ( 9:04 )
2. Jungle Adagio ( 11:37 )
3. Last Business ( 6:30 )
4. Challaban ( trad. / arr. by B. Fribgane ) ( 5:45 )
5. Shadow's Shift ( Rivard / Maneri ) ( 7:44 )


Album Art by Peter Barrett


Club d'Elf Live in NYC
4/20/00
2 CD Set

4/20/00 NYC ( Knitting Factory )

Personnel :

Joe Maneri ( reeds, voice )
Mat Maneri ( elec violin )
Brahim Fribgane ( oud, perc )
John Medeski ( keyboards ) ( appears courtesy of Blue Note Records )
Mike Rivard ( basses )
Erik Kerr ( drums )

w/ Eric Hipp ( tenor sax ) *
Richard Zukowski ( voice on Down in the Hole )

Disc 1

1. Route of the Root ( Rivard ) ( 8:49 )
2. Bass Beatbox ( Rivard ) (5:47)
3. Fire in the Brain ( Rivard ) (7:45)
4. Joe's Blues ( J.Maneri/J.Medeski/M.Maneri/E.Kerr/M.Rivard) (4:08)
5. As Above ( Rivard ) (9:20) *
6. Second Beginning ( J.Medeski/E.Kerr ) (1:07)
7. Off To Baby ( J.Medeski/M.Rivard/E.Kerr/M.Maneri/J.Maneri ) (4:16)
8. Now I Understand ( Rivard ) (7:37)
9. Forget That ( B.Fribgane/J.Maneri/M.Maneri/E.Kerr/M.Rivard/J.Medeski ) (2:04)
10. Trance Meeting ( M.Rivard/A.Mallet ) (10:33)
11. What About Now ( J.Medeski/J.Maneri/B.Fribgane/M.Maneri/M.Rivard (2:19)
12. Get a Little Turning ( Rivard ) (6:41)
13. Down in the Hole ( Make Me the Sargeant ) ( R.Zukowski/M.Rivard )
(9:15)

( 79:45 )

Disc 2

1. Jungle Adagio ( Rivard ) (15:23)
2. Outside Voice ( J.Medeski/M.Maneri ) (1:05)
3. Left Hand of Clyde ( Rivard ) (12:52)
4. d'Empty Land Pt.1 ( M.Rivard/J.Medeski/J.Maneri/M.Maneri/E.Kerr ) (3:41)
5. Invisible Landscape ( Rivard ) (8:13)
6. d'Empty Land Pt.2 ( M.Rivard/J.Medeski/J.Maneri/M.Maneri ) (2:39)
7. Actual Smiles ( Rivard ) (5:08) *
8. Say Yes to the Heavens Pt.1 ( B.Fribgane/M.Maneri/M.Rivard/J.Medeski/J.Maneri ) (3:09)
9. Samba Morocco ( B.Fribgane/J.Leake )+ (8:23)
10. Chapel Perilous ( Rivard ) (8:46)*
11. Say Yes to the Heavens Pt.2 ( J.Medeski/J.Maneri/E.Hipp/M.Maneri/M.Rivard/E.Kerr/B.Fribgane )
(7:30)*

( 76:52 )


Album Art by Peter Barrett
 

Club d'Elf Live at the Lizard Lounge
Double CD

As Above Here it is, baby: "Lather, Rinse, Repeat." Scholars place this canto among the oldest known recorded musical texts, and the only one of its kind to top the Billboard charts in two separate millennia. Owing to a bitter copyright dispute, that beloved song is not included on As Above, the debut CD release from the Arcturus-based Club d'Elf, but donšt let that discourage you from plumbing its cavernous depths, where novel (and Gnostic) delights await your ears. Formed in a base of lanolin and tocopherol, the true origins of Club D'Elf remain lost to history (though there are those who suggest compelling evidence that it began as an improvisational side project spun off during Saul of Tarsus' Zealots-era studio sessions). Its current incarnation was birthed anew in the reptile house of our local zoo, and is the brainchild of Micro Vard, the cult's reclusive and mercurial Chief Adept. Vard, a supposed 33 degree initiate of the Sisterhood of the Inordinate Prudences, is an inveterate scatologist with a penchant for charity beachcombing (as well as a rumored $13-a-day expired-discount-vitamin habit.) Whatever his predilections, of this there can be no doubt: he is a skilled aural traffic controller, guiding grooves on and off of the runways with the swan-like motions of his red and orange flashlight wands. Peering though his golden speculum into alien worlds few dare even to contemplate, he returns with a glistening message of hyperbolic transcendence, a call to arms for the pacifist in each of us. Call it Eschatological Realism. Necro-romanticism. It caresses your skin like a wet potato sack. It grows like vines around your ankles; it is more plant than human. It sings. In As Above, as elsewhere, Club D'Elf turns wine into water, transmuting a mere intoxicant into something pure, elemental. In a word: Essential. Put it this way. Some people want their music hot and steaming, others prefer it clinically sanitized, like a sports stadium men's room. Me, I like my music like I take my coffee: unfiltered and stone cold. So grab your glue guns and your water-wings, kids, 'cause it donšt get any colder than this.


Album Art by Peter Barrett