So Long Seven - only elephants know her name (2022)

A very nice ensemble from Toronto So Long Seven is well known in Canada, and tours quite often in Europe. Its composition does not seem standard: guitarist, banjoist, violinist and percussionist. The music of So Long Seven is not trivial either. The group does not recognize any stylistic restrictions, but, on the contrary, successfully blurs the boundaries between jazz, blues, folk and world music in their music. All this is clearly manifested in her fresh, third album called only elephants know her name.

All compositions here are author's, written by the members of the ensemble, and together I would compare the album's program with a kind of bouquet, in which each brought his own flower. Perhaps the bouquet at the same time turned out to be somewhat colorful and unusual, but on the other hand, it was immediately noticeable and rather exotic. Guitarist Neil Hendry, author of the album's liner notes, dedicated the opening track mazimhaka to the memory of an old friend of his family, with whom he has warm childhood memories. Here for the first time you will come across the unusual sound of the group, which in a number of the following compositions will be enhanced by an increase in the number of strings to the format of a string quartet, arrangements for which were made by the main violinist of the ensemble, William Lamoreau. A tablist in his main instrument, here also operating with a number of percussion instruments, Ravi Naimpally is fascinated by the work of the original Canadian artist Kenozhuak Ashevak, who is considered the founder of the visual arts of the Eskimos of Canada. He dedicated a small but interesting play kenojuak to her. Two compositions in the album are dedicated to elephants at once, and absolutely specific animals: this is the title only elephants know her name, as well as mara. In the first of them, Tim Posgate's banjo solo draws attention, and in the second, a guest vocalist of Indian origin Samidha Joglekar, who accompanies the music with a prayer song dedicated to the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesha. The play frolic of the monsoon frogs, which owes its appearance to the childhood memories of Ravi Namapalli, is also connected with India. But the name of the final play ghost ocean came up with the wife of Neil Hendry. He gave her a demo to listen to and asked her what the music reminded her of.