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RedandBlack.com
3/28/2002
Walking
a Thin Line Between Order and Chaos
Club d'Elf puts musical risks and unpredictability aside
to give listeners a wild ride. In 1970, Miles Davis' album
Live Evil took experimental music to new
heights.
Today, in the same vein, Club d'Elf embarks on sonic explorations
by spontaneously playing material without formally rehearsing
it.
Club d'Elf began in 1998 in Cambridge, Mass., at the cozy
Lizard Lounge. At the small club, bassist Mike Rivard, who
has recorded with Paula Cole and Morphine, established a
musical meeting place for live experimentation.
"I
wanted something that was loose enough to accommodate people
and have it be different every time," Rivard said. "It's
not total jams. We do have songs. But the idea is to play
them differently every night. It's kind of like a dub remix
perspective on it."
For
more than four years, a changing lineup of musicians met
at the club for jamming sessions. Notable guests who've
played with Club d'Elf include DJ Logic, Mark Sandman, Bob
Moses and Kenwood Dennard.
"For
the Boston shows, there tends to be more of a core group,
but every show at the Lizard is a different lineup beyond
the core," Rivard said. "I'm part of a really large musical
community in Boston that I can draw."
Though
it started small, the project soon attracted increasingly
large audiences who crammed into the venue to listen to
the groove-heavy mix of drum 'n' bass, trance, electronica,
hip-hop, funk and free jazz, as well as traditional Moroccan
Berber and Gnawa music and other West African flavors, Rivard
said.
After
he writes the backbone of the songs, Rivard said, he works
out the different rhythm concepts with a drummer. Then,
at the shows the other musicians apply their different contributions
on top.
"I
write charts out," he said. "Or I send them tapes or CDs,
but some come in without ever hearing the music and they
just play. The idea is to remix it, so I'm not concerned
if a certain section happens live."
As Club d'Elf embarks on its second domestic tour, an eight-show
stint, the group will feature Rivard, John Medeski on keyboards,
Brahim Fribgane on "oud" and various Moroccan percussions
and vocals, Mat Maneri on electric violin and viola, Mister
Rourke on turntables and Eric Kalb on drums. Special guest
guitarist Reeves Gabrels will also join the club for the
Athens and Atlanta performances.
"We
try to walk the tight rope every night, between order and
chaos," Rivard said.
Rivard
said his role as musical director allows the members of
Club d'ELF to take greater risks because they always have
someone who knows where the tune will go next.
"Someone
needs to lead and say this is where we are," he said. "We're
a little more aggressive than [most jam-bands]."
-David
Kross
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