Club d’Elf with John Medeski, October 2025
Club d’Elf has been helping audiences lose track of time for twenty seven years with its mesmerizing synthesis of Moroccan traditional music and electronic, dubbed-out funk. For this special gratitude-season engagement, Club d'Elf will be joined by acclaimed keyboardist and improvisational magician John Medeski, along with bandleader Mike Rivard on bass and sintir, Will Bernard (guitar), Mister Rourke (turntables) and Dean Johnston (drums). Catch this one-of-a-kind gathering and performance in the barn at Race Brook Lodge and stay over to make it a special getaway, or enjoy a casual dinner at Trailhead Berkshires, before the concert. We are offering a 20% discount on rooms for the night.
This is the last concert at Race Brook Lodge as we know it, since we will be ending our regular hospitality offerings after November 30th. Join us and be a part of this nostalgic moment.
Onsite dining at Trailhead Berkshires
Monday, November 24th
5pm: Trailhead restaurant open
7pm: Doors Open
8pm: Concert begins
In the Barnspace at Race Brook Lodge
864 S Undermountain road Sheffield, MA
(directions)Early-bird Tickets: $25 (first 40 tickets)
Standard Advance Tickets: $35
Day of the Show: $45
Race Brook Lodge is a hidden gem in The Berkshires, at the foot of Mt. Race and a short hike from the Appalachian trail. The yoga & event barn at Race Brook is simultaneously rustic and sublime, steeped in hundreds of years of New England history. The Stagecoach Tavern is unpretentious fine dining, exquisite farm-to-table cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Much of the food is sourced from Race Farm, right on the property!
ARTIST BIOS
Circling about bassist/composer Mike Rivard, each Club d’Elf performance features a different line-up, drawn from a constellation of some of the most creative improvisers from the jazz, DJ, rock & world music scenes of Boston, NYC and beyond. Named Jazz Act of 2023 in the Boston Music Awards, the bands music draws from a startlingly wide spectrum of styles that goes beyond any single category, including hip hop, electronica, avant garde, prog-rock and dub. Under the tutelage of member Brahim Fribgane (who was born in Casablanca) the band absorbed Moroccan trance music, which is now an essential part of the mix. Fribgane passed away in early 2024, but his spirit lives on in the music, particularly in Rivard’s commanding playing of the Moroccan sintir – an instrument he learned to play through the guidance of Fribgane, as well as Gnawa masters Hassan Hakmoun and Mahmoud Guinia. Trance forms the central core of the Club d’Elf aesthetic, weaving together the band’s various influences.
Follow Club d’Elf on Instagram!
John Medeski is not easily contained to a single project or genre; he is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood. Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ or any number of vintage keyboards, Medeski is a highly sought after improviser and band leader whose projects range from work with John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and many more. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft.Lauderdale, FL where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013, and current projects include a new album in the works with his band MadSkillet (Terrence Higgins, Kirk Joseph, Will Bernard), and HUDSON (a collaboration with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield & Larry Grenadier), plus a documentary on Medeski Martin & Wood. Follow John on Instagram!
EXPLORE RACE BROOK LODGE
