Jambands.com Show Review: 5-26 Tonic, NYC<br /> -Jesse Jarnow

In the first half of the 20th century, jazz musicians like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong toured with ever-morphing orchestras comprised of the finest players of the day. Mike Rivard’s Club d’Elf revives that tradition, albeit on a smaller scale, for the early 21st. Foraying only occasionally from Rivard’s native Boston, the band’s lineup for their recent jaunt to Manhattan’s Tonic included regulars like turntablist Mister Rourke and percussionist Brahim Fribgane, as well as local buddies keyboardist John Medeski and guitarist Marc Ribot.