Sevens And Eights

Ivory Ganesh Meets Doctor Drums is a collaborative studio album by pianist Paul Plimley and mridangam artist Trichy Sankaran. The release emerged from cross-cultural improvisations blending Western avant-garde jazz with Carnatic rhythmic traditions. Songlines issued the recording on compact disc in 1998.

The album features seven tracks that explore interplay between Plimley’s prepared piano techniques and Sankaran’s percussive patterns on the mridangam, ghatam, and kanjira. The second track, Sevens And Eights, runs 4 minutes and 23 seconds. The composition exemplifies the duo’s approach to polyrhythmic dialogue, with Plimley’s dissonant harmonic clusters contrasting Sankaran’s intricate konnakol-inspired phrasing. No additional session musicians or overdubs appear on the recording.

Critics noted the album for its structural spontaneity and the artists’ ability to reconcile disparate musical vocabularies without fusion clichés. The liner notes credit Sankaran’s guidance in adapting Carnatic tala cycles to Plimley’s free-improvisational framework. The physical release includes minimalist cover art depicting a stylized ganesh motif alongside abstract drum notation.

Context beyond the 1998 CD release remains undocumented. No live performances, alternate takes, or reissues of Ivory Ganesh Meets Doctor Drums are verified in available sources. The album’s reception focused primarily on its role in experimental cross-genre collaboration during the late 1990s.