The Moral Of The Elephant

The first album as a duo by the father and daughter of folk’s most celebrated family, performing a wide selection of sublime songs. Produced by Eliza, Martin and Oliver Knight, this wonderful album captures the essence of a continuing singing and performing tradition that weaves a thread through the Waterson/Carthy dynasty. Eliza and Martin constantly shape and interpret words and tunes into something fresh, yet recognizable as the product of two lives bonded not only by family ties, but by the music that lives with them and through them. The songs here range from reworkings of the traditional (‘Her Servant Man’, the majestic ‘Grand Conversation On Napoleon’, ‘Bonny Moorhen’) through interpretations of the more modern (‘Happiness’ and Michael Marra’s ‘Monkey Hair’) to a new Eliza Carthy tune set to the poetry of John Godfrey Saxe (‘The Elephant’). Perhaps most affecting is the wonderful tribute to Mike Waterson, in using his unique arrangement of ‘Died For Love’ to close a beautifully played and beautifully sung collection of songs.