James Yorkston, Jon Thorne and Suhail Yusuf Khan are Yorkston/Thorne/Khan.
This unique trio represents a confluence of currents, among them the north Indian sarangi; jazz-tinged bass, reminiscent in places of Danny Thompson; acoustic guitar that owes a debt to Elizabeth Cotton, Dick Gaughan and Mississippi John Hurt; and three very different vocalists.
As Yorkston himself said, “There are elements of jazz and Indian classical tradition coming together with acoustic song. But the word fusion suggests forethought, an attempt to combine the most disparate elements possible, and YTK wasn’t like that. Suhail and I met purely by chance and became friends. We’re pals. I just see it as a band.”
Together, they walk on untrodden ground.
‘The combination of a singer-songwriter, a jazz bassist and an Indian classical sarangi player is totally unheard off,’ says Khan. ‘For me, the lack of percussion, especially, gives me the freedom to do loads more sonically.’
‘I see YTK as an extension of the musical relationship James and I have already established,’ agrees Thorne, ‘but made unique by blending it with Suhail’s Indian sounds. It’s my first experience playing with saranghi and Indian classical singing. Best of all, this is the first time, to my knowledge, that this combination of instruments has ever been recorded. It’s very exciting.’
What the three musicians share is a love of improvisation, so join us at Band on the Wall for what is set to be a unique show with a truly international flavour.
Special guests tonight are Tryon Collective, who make art through their love of improvisation, often using mixed-media; blending visual arts and music.
They sometimes work on a pre-conceived, part-composed or conceptual basis and let these ideas contribute to an improvised output. Through this, the ensemble explore the interpretation and communication between the mediums and themselves as creatives.
This performance is conceived with the help of visual scores.
This is a mixed seating and standing show.
