club d’elf in the 2nd most cruel month

 

greetings and salutations,

don’t know about you, but here at d’elf hq we find ourselves asking the immortal question “is this real life?” more and more these days.  we’ll continue on with the assumption that it is. what did philip k. dick say about reality? hmmm, let’s take a quick trip to the interwebs…”Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away”. things is getting crazier and crazier of late, and we have to keep reminding ourself about what quantum physics tells us: that the universe is created by the participants – by US, all of us – and that consciousness is the fabric of “reality”. and right now everyone seems to be running the panic script, with the global and immediate 24/7 exchange of information that the interwebs affords us creating a sort of negative feedback loop. we hope you are finding ways of at least turning that script off for even a short period, and maybe even finding ways of writing some new code. laughter tends to be our best reprogramming tool, and thank cthulhu for jack handey. which reminds us…it’s time for a deep thought…”Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.” 

your humble narrator has been battling the inner cave man and trying to get with the tech-mology, and i know i’ve made noise for awhile now about starting a blog and as with most things i make noise about it seems to take forever. well, this is the cave man’s initial, baby steps towards that end. i promise this will get better and sleeker and sexier and less-groan-worthy as time goes along, but bear with me while i figure out how to get the bugs out (like, why can’t i get the extra spaces to go away in some of the paragraphs?). thanks to chris w for helping out above and beyond, and for setting the wheels in motion on this whole thing. we’re late as always, what with a show tonight, meaning this should have gone out days ago…time…is a strange mistress…. but lets see how this thing works, and as always your feedback is encouraged and is most helpful.

as for the ongoing studio cd production, we are deep in that shit (and hey, that’s the best part of sending this stuff out in blog form, for now i can cuss like a service-man! fucking a! no more spam filters at your office to yoink the newsletter off to some email version of gitmo!) and though we are as strapped as you no doubt find yourself in these times of Economic Downturn, we are plowing ahead as if it all means something, as if something will come of it all. it was always the kooks, the give-no-thought-to-“reality”-type folks who inspired us, people who go and throw themselves into projects that most sane people would just shake their heads at and tell their children to turn away from the crazy man, he doesn’t know what he’s saying. real mavericks like harry partch and john kennedy toole and bruce bickford and wilhelm reich who made us think that it is a good thing to have a dream and follow through with it, no matter what the cost. and yeah, most of those folks didn’t come to a pleasant end and generally died penniless or wound up in prison, but these are mere details, people. 

in the blogs to come i will share some of the ongoing process with ya’ll and introduce you to some of the people who are part of it all. this is us, club d’elf, casting our lot into the universe, club d’elf sending out a message of crazy beauty that makes absolutely no sense other than wanting to create something that, if nothing else, makes some people think that there’s someone else out there as crazy as they are. we can’t keep you from losing your job or your house, but we can at least amuse you with our antics of bringing our pre-apocalyptic musical visions into, if not “reality”, at least whatever modality it is that we are all (seemingly) engaged in at the moment. uh….yeah. 

SHOWS

Thurs March 5, 2009
Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
9:30 pm – 1:30 am. 2 sets. $10. 21+.   http://www.lizardloungeclub.com. w/ Randy Roos (guitar), Paul Schultheis (Rhodes & Moog), Vicente Lebron (congas & perc), Mike Rivard (bass & sintir) & Dean Johnston (drums). 

FRIDAY March 20, 2009: 11th ANNIVERSARY SHOW!!!
Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
9:30 pm – 1:30 am. 2 sets. $10. 21+. 617-547-0759/1228. http://www.lizardloungeclub.com. 

Upcoming @Lizard Lounge: 4.16.09, 5.22.09, 6.05.09 & 6.19.09.

D’ELF RELATED SHOWS

i had the great honor and privilege of working with the late, great Ghanaian master drummer Alhaji Abubakari Lunna on many occasions when he visited boston, and he played with d’elf at the lizard lounge a few years back, as well as recording on some tracks that will finally see the light of day (and dark of night) when the new studio discs hit. this event should be well-worth checking out if you enjoy african drumming:

Sat March 7, 2009
Natraj (Phil Scarff – soprano saxophone, Rohan Gregory – violin, Mike Rivard – string bass, Jerry Leake – tabla and multipercussion, Bertram Lehmann – drums and percussion)
Africa Fest ’09, Distler Performance Hall, Granoff Music Center, Tufts University, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA. 
8 pm. $5 (general) and $2 (students). http://www.myspace.com/natrajfusion

In addition to the Grand Concert, participatory workshops will be held from 1:30pm to 3:30pm in the Jackson Dance Lab (free admission). All ages welcome. For tickets, information, and a complete schedule of events, call 617-627-3679 or visit http://www.tufts.edu/musiccenter/events/calendar.html.

Africa Fest ’09 is a day of African music and dance in honor of the late Ghanaian master drummer Alhaji Abubakari Lunna, artist-in-residence at Tufts University for many years. In addition to Natraj, Africa Fest ’09 Grand Concert (8:00pm) features the NYC fusion group Imaginary Homeland, the West African folkloric groups, Boston’s Agbekor Society and Canada-based Akpokli, Tufts University student group Kiniwe directed by David Locke, and Berklee College of Music African Ensemble
directed by Joe Galeota. 

D’ELF ON YOUTUBE

we now have a youtube channel where you can spend the time that you should be doing other things with. if you like, subscribe. here are a few of the recent vids you will find include:

Sand (from berklee 11.26.07)

Berber Song (from berklee 11.26.07)

9.11.08 Superdeluxe, Tokyo, Japan w/ Skerik, Dave Fiuczynski, Kenwood Dennard & Mike Rivard

*Mister Rourke back in the day*

i spent a day in the laboratory with mister rourke, testing out some secret potions for the cd, and he hipped me to this vid that recently surfaced on youtube of his former band, Fat Bag. you’ll recognize a few other d’elf alumni – sam kininger, adam deitch, atticus cole. from the chris rock show, back in the day…

*John Medeski in Peru*

john channels his inner satyr with kids at the Casa de Milagro school in the Sacred Valley, Peru.

*Dean Johnston gets in touch with his inner mathematician*

our drummer dean likes to play in 9, and he’d like to share it with you.

*Photos of 11.20.08 Lizard Lounge show w/ Reeves Gabrels & Randy Roos

thanks to bill for sending us this link to shots he took at what was a pretty cool show.

D’ELF RECOMMENDS

*Quay Bros*

i came across this article written by shaun brady, whom i spoke to last summer for a piece that never got published (noticed how available space for art & music is shrinking in printed media? welcome to our world…). shaun shares a deep fascination with the work of the quay bros, who i am continually shocked and awed by, ever since first peeping their Street Of Crocodiles on a pbs show hosted by laurie anderson way back in the day. their work continues to worm its way into the music of club d’elf, like a continuous visual counterpart to our crazy-make-em-ups.

*Garifuna women on Youtube*

this made me feel pretty good to watch. perhaps it will you, as well. there IS good shit going on in the world, people! don’t let the news make you feel otherwise!

*R. Crumb exhibit in Boston*

me, i love crumb. zap comix are deeply imbedded in my brain and will always inform whatever it is i do, which more often than not gets me into trouble. being the procrastinator that i am i have waited til the last minute to see this show, but today i’m going to try to sneak down there before the d’elf gig at the lizard. if you’re in the boston area, you have til sat night to check it out.

**Orchestra Otmani of Fes**

i missed these guys when they played in boston recently, but through the miracle of youtube we can all experience the magic. they feature a number of up-and-coming musicians trained at both zawyas and the Conservatory of Fes, including 22-year-old vocal virtuoso Marouane Hajji. The ensemble performs Nawbat Ouchchaq (Lovers’ Suite) for a special Valentine’s Day performance.

Orchestra Otmani

Marouane

thanks for getting this far, and until next time, stay inspired and keep checking in on your friends & family and send out the good stuff. no time to lose. we’re all in this together.

-micro

~ by delfblog on March 5, 2009.