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What begins as a groove in Club d’Elf’s world often becomes a doorway into someplace older, stranger and unshackled by time.The band has spent twenty seven years helping audiences lose track of time with its shape-shifting fusion of Moroccan trance, dub, electronica, jazz and improvised funk. Built around bassist and composer Mike Rivard, each performance features a rotating cast drawn from Boston, New York and beyond, creating a constantly shifting ecosystem where trance forms the central core of the band’s aesthetic. Under longtime member and Casablanca native Brahim Fribgane, the group absorbed Moroccan trance music deeply into its DNA. Fribgane passed away in early 2024, but his spirit remains embedded in the band’s sound, especially through Rivard’s commanding sintir work, learned under the guidance of Fribgane and Gnawa masters Hassan Hakmoun and Mahmoud Guinia.
Their new album, Loon and Thrush (due out 4/10/26), recorded entirely live in the studio with minimal overdubs, channels that lineage into a raw, improvisatory flight. While largely built on Rivard originals, the album continues the band’s tradition of honoring key influences, offering Moroccan-infused takes on Grateful Dead classics “Bird Song” and “New Speedway Boogie.” The overarching theme of the record is “flight” itself — the avian imagery of the title track, the Dead’s celestial wanderings, and the enduring presence of Fribgane, whose spirit continues to guide the music from beyond.
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Event venue
Off Cabot, 11 Wallis St, Beverly, MA 01915-4436, United States
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