March 2000

Paul Plimley/Trichy Sankaran
Ivory Ganesh Meets Doctor Drums
Songlines

By Josef Woodard

They both make their home in Canada, but pianist Paul Plimley and Indian percussionist Trichy Sankaran work from different cultural ends towards a desired middle ground. Plimley, known for his hardy efforts in improvisation and the avant end of the Western Canadian jazz scene, finds plenty to converse about musically with the Indian-born percussionist on Ivory Ganesh Meets Doctor Drums (Songlines 1523; 50:56). Sankaran, playing mrdangam and kanjira, has appeared with a wide array of open-minded improvisers from various cultures, and was heard on last year's juicy electric Miles tribute, Yo Miles. The pair works together in a sensitive, resonant way, mixing up structured pieces with complex meters (by Western standards) and improvised pieces in a vocabulary that splits the difference between Carnatic, European and jazz inferences. There's a freshness to the meeting that makes its own brand of cross-cultural poetry.