“RIGHT. Let’s get this straight. You want to bring a Scottish folk singer, a jazz double bassist and a weird Indian instrument together to make an album.
"That is completely bonkers… but it might just work."
This fictional statement by an imaginary record company exec would have been right – James Yorkston, Jon Thorne and Suhail Khan work extremely well together.
The trio’s debut album, Everything’s Sacred, has been garnering plaudits from all and sundry.
Yorkston has been described as "one of the most influential singer/songwriters on the Scottish folk scene"; Suhail Yusuf Khan, is an award-winning sarangi player and classical singer from New Delhi and Jon Thorne is best known as the jazz double bass player with electro outfit Lamb.
This week, I asked James Yorkston what united the three apart, was it a matter of them having the same sense of musical curiosity?
"Well, we are all interested in music as a whole, not in specific genres or in styles," he says.
"We all just love whatever makes a good sound. Putting it basically, Suhail is from an Indian Classical improvisation background, Jon from jazz improvisation and me from Krautrock repetition and improvisation.
"All those styles, as I'm sure you noticed, rely heavily on listening to the other players and coming up with exploratory, new sounds."
The album is called Everything's Sacred because the band believes that music is sacred just as life is sacred.
There are parts of the album that build up into crescendos of sound and excitement, like on the 13-minute opening track, Knochentanz or on Sufi Song.
Different cultures have a word for the state of ecstasy brought about my music – 'tarab' in Arabic, 'duende' in Spanish and so on.
Is that what YTK are aiming for in some of their tracks?
"Absolutely," says James.
"One of the reasons we asked Jon to complete the trio was because we knew he wouldn't stop playing and panic if Suhail and I began playing more exploratory, emotional music.
"And that safety net gave us a chance to really go for the fail-safe even with our eyes closed, knowing that Jon would back us up and us him.
"It means we can really push the music forwards every night in a new direction."
While the big numbers are mesmerising, no less so is Scottish writer Ivor Cutler’s homage to Morse Code, Little Black Buzzer.
This is complemented by a piece of konnika singing which is a bit like an Indian version of Gaelic mouth music or Irish lilting.
Also singing on the track is Lisa O'Neill from Co Cavan, whom James has known for a long time.
"I was introduced to her music by the great Donal Dineen and it was one of those situations where as soon as I heard her voice I knew that she was something special," he enthuses.
"I met her a few years later when I invited her over to play a show with me in Edinburgh and we got on very well indeed. I think Lisa is a truly unique talent and I love her songs, I love her passion.
"She's a great person and I'm delighted she's on the album."
On the other hand, James meeting Suhail Khan was just a chance encounter.
The Scottish singer was backstage at a show, idly playing his guitar when Suhail opened the door and asked if he could enter.
"I said 'sure'," he recalls.
"We got chatting, he began playing his sarangi along with my guitar and we decided there and then to do that evening's gig together.
"I think that was 2012. We did maybe six shows after that as a duo whenever Suhail was over from India, then we decided to invite a third partner and Jon was the obvious choice.
"We weren't looking for double bass as such, just a musician who could keep up with what Suhail and I were playing. We needed someone who had the ability to play between the notes and to make magical music and not be scared if Suhail and I went off-piste into a grim atonal mess."
James and John had worked together before after James's bass player, Doogie Paul, took ill and eventually died of cancer.
There is a song on Everything Sacred in his honour.
"Yes indeed, the song Broken Wave was written about Doogie, my first bass dude and good pal, who died of cancer far too young," says James.
"It is a very sad song, very tragic. It has been interesting to see that a lot of other people have taken that song to the heart because although they didn't know the Doogster themselves, they do know other people have died, good friends of theirs or family, so a lot of people request that song.
"For me, it keeps its strength because although I cannot sing about Doogie every night without losing my focus and without feeling terribly sad, I know that other people in the audience are taking on strengths from that song and that in turn gives me strength."
:: Yorkston/Thorne/Khan, Saturday August 6, Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, 8pm. Tickets £12/£8 concession.
