Club D’Elf – “Now I Understand ” – [Accurate Records]

The groove’s the thing for Boston-based bassist Mike Rivard and his Club D’Elf project. The group has a fluid membership, varying quite a bit from gig to gig and track to track. The one constant is Rivard on electric and acoustic basses, leading an eclectic array of musicians who contribute their rock, jazz, funk, hip hop, dub, and world music ingredients to the stew. Among the “regulars” who appear on several tracks are John Medeski/Jere Faison on keyboards, Billy Martin/Eric Kerr on drums, Mat Maneri on viola, and DJ Logic on turntables. Oud, tabla, and dumbek lend a nice international flavor to some tracks. Mostly instrumental, except for #6, which has a nice groove but also has lyrics, sung by Jenifer Jackson, that seem out of place and don’t do a whole lot for me. Typical of releases these days that are heavy on turntablism, this CD has strange vocal injections from records and who knows where else appearing throughout the tracks. Some of the tracks start with weird sound collages and then drop into a funkier normality later. A pretty good record and one with wide appeal, I would think.