Yorkston Thorne Khan are certainly no strangers to these pages. In 2020, James Yorkston, Jon Thorne and Suhail Khan released their third album Navarasa : Nine Emotions whose title, as pointed out in our review, referred to the subcontinental principle that there are nine emotions which inform the creative process and are present in all artforms. This structure underpinned the entire album and is partly responsible for the sheer range and scope of the music on offer here: where other concepts could be constrictive, this one is liberating.
That liberating concept was put to challenge recently when they had to contend with visa issues. This has resulted in an unexpected turn of events and Suhail Yusuf Khan will now be replaced by Tanpura & Harmonium player Ranjana Ghatak for their upcoming tour. While the prospect of a completely new player in the lineup may come as a surprise to many, I think this is going to be quite a special tour. She studied under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, considered to be one of the proverbial figures of Indian classical music. Here is a live video performance from a Daylight Music concert from 2018:
And ‘Kabir’ from her 2020 solo album The Butterfly Effect which is available on Bandcamp.
In James Yorkston’s own words:
Due to Visa issues, Suhail Yusuf Khan is no longer able to make this May 2022 tour. In his absence, the band have asked hugely experienced singer, Tanpura & Harmonium player Ranjana Ghatak to sit in. Expect exploratory new music and established pieces from the first three Yorkston / Thorne / Khan albums, all played with a whole new flavour and excitement, as the sounds of this new trio are explored. Harmonium / double bass / tanpura / nyckelharpa / guitar / vocals.
“When we heard from Suhail that he was having seemingly insurmountable visa issues, despite him working closely with his university’s visa department, as a trio we were all rather upset. Our last tour was cut in half by Covid, and since then, this current tour has been reprogrammed three times. Rather than simply cancelling again, Jon and I were very keen to make this work somehow. Suhail suggested we find a “dep”, to learn his parts. This is relatively common in both Indian classical music and jazz, both of which inform our music as a trio somewhat.
Jon and I were curious, but didn’t like the idea of just hiring someone in, trying to replicate what YTK has already achieved. Far more exciting to us was to get someone in who could bring their own voice and personality to YTK. Less a stand-in, and more a fresh voice, a fresh angle to our work. So, we started looking around, and asking friends within the UK Indian music scene. Three separate people suggested one particular musician – Ranjana Ghatak, who sings, plays Tanpura and Harmonium. Jon and I listened to her work, and were similarly enthused. We then had a Zoom call with Ranjana and straight away it seemed we had similar views of what our music could become. Crucially, we immediately got on very well, with a similar sense of humour.
Singer/Composer Ranjana Ghatak started her learning in the classical and devotional Hindustani vocal traditions in her hometown of London, before continuing her study under the guidance of Maestro Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty from 2000. Ranjana has explored traditional music in addition to juxtaposing the beauty of sacred vocal music with contemporary instrumentation over the last 14 years. Performances include Bath Music Festival, Wigmore Hall and opening for John McLaughlin, Shai Maestro and Trilok Gurtu. Collaborations include Nitin Sawhney, LPO, RPO and Jason Singh. Composing credits include a vocal piece for 130 singers inspired by Pandit Ravi Shankar’s opera and a Raga inspired choral piece for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. She lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay area till the end of 2020 performing and teaching for CDI and the Ali Akbar College of Music.
A very experienced musician and someone we’re excited to be working with.
So, what to expect on this tour? We’re exchanging ideas and pieces from now, and are meeting up for a few days rehearsal before the London show. We’ll be playing some established YTK pieces, including songs that Suhail has led, alongside compositions and songs by Jon and me. Ranjana is also going to be bringing her own work to the table, for us to work on afresh as a trio. Are we sad that Suhail cannot make this tour? Of course we are. But we just as excited to be bringing Ranjana with us and seeing where it takes us as a trio. Thanks very much for your understanding. As musicians we truly appreciate this chance to play and create something new.”
James Yorkston
Yorkston Thorne Ghatak Dates
May 2022
Wednesday 18th – London Kings Place
Thursday 19th – Liverpool Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Friday 20th – Bury – The Met
Saturday 21st – Stirling The Tolbooth
Sunday 22nd – Edinburgh Summerhall
Tuesday 24th – St Monans Futtle
Wednesday 25th – Inverness Eden Court
Thursday 26th – Stromness The Visit Orkney Folk Festival
Friday 27th Sunday – 29th Stromness Orkney Folk Festival
June 2022
Wednesday 1st New Galloway CatStrand
Saturday 4th Crieff Strathearn Arts
More here: https://www.jamesyorkston.co.uk/live-dates/