Everything sacred

"A perennial outsider, Count Ossie was nevertheless one of the key figures in Jamaican music history. The late-night jam sessions that took place at his hillside compound on the outskirts of Kingston in the late 50s spread Rastafari among the musicians who flocked there, while his various drum-heavy releases brought Rastafarian rhythms to the public consciousness.The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari was a union of Ossie's percussion troupe African Drums and Cedric Im Brooks' horn ensemble The Mystics. Reissued in remastered form (...), their second album (...) combines nyabinghi drum and chant workouts such as No Night In Zion, I Am A Warrior and Wicked Babylon with more expansive, jazz-inflected spirituals. Of the latter, Let Freedom Reign blends Brooks' beautifully expressive saxophone with loping bass grooves and conga beats, while Run One Mile is groove-heavy, avant-garde jazz. Well-written liner notes and two extra tracks - the skanking Rasta Reggae and the pretty cover ofLesMcCann's ballad Samia - make it a superlative package".

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"Vurdering: New album of the month" - "This is the sound of three world-class talents raising their respective games, as if trying to keep up with each other, creating something far greater even than the sum of their world-class parts".

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"The sarangi is a bowed, short-necked Indian instrument whose greatest exponent, Ustad Sabri Khan, performed with Yehudi Menuhin. Now, his grandson Suhail Yusuf Khan continues the sarangi experiment in this Indian-folk-jazz fusion band, with Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist James Yorkston, and double bass player Jon Thorne. It's a wildly varied set [including] a quirky, Indian-edged treatment of Ivor Cutler's Little Black Buzzer, which would have amused the Incredible String Band and features Yorkston on Swedish nyckelharpa and additional vocals from Lisa O'Neill. Then there's a reworking of Lal Waterson's poignant Song for Thirza, a powerful lament from Thorne, a spiritual song from Khan, and a delicate, guitar-led instrumental. Bravely original and worth checking out".

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"Skotske James Yorkston var om nogen en fornyer af folkrocken, da han udgav sit første og stildannende album Moving Up Country for over et årti siden. Her tilførte den begavede musiker nyt æstetisk blod til den traditionsrige scene. På Everything Sacred, der mere end lever op til sin titel, nærmer vi os det overjordiske. Sammen med den prisvindende sarangispiller Suhail Yusuf Khan og Jon Thorne fra det elektroniske outfit Lamb prøver Yorkston atter nye veje i en indisk-engelsk-skotsk alliance, som nærmest kan betegnes som et indie/folk-projekt med stærke østasiatiske undertoner".

"På "Everything Sacred" er [Yorkston] sammen med den engelske bassist Jon Thorne og den indiske sarangi-spiller Suhail Yusuf Khan, som med sit særegne strengeinstrument sørger for at sende musikkens stemning i retning af Indien. På det smukke titelnummer holdes der fast i popsangens opbygning, så der bliver noget imødekommende over fusionen mellem Yorkstons alvorsfulde sangforedrag og sarangiens klagende udtryk. Andre steder kommer de tre hovedpersoners kompetencer i for høj grad til at køre i forskellige spor".

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"A chance meeting in 2011 between Scots folk singer-songwriter James Yorkston and Indian classical singer and sarangi maestro Suhail Yusuf Khan led to a spontaneous performance and, eventually, to this recording with jazz double bassist Jon Thorne completing the trio. Yorkston came to solo prominence playing support gigs for Bert Jansch and John Martyn, while Thorne has played with Donovan (amongst countless other) so it's no surprise that this music is deeply redolent of the era of Pentangle and the Incredible String Band. This, however is far from 1960s pastiche ... This is an adventurous, natural-sounding collaboration ... [A] joyous, contemplative, playful, euphoric and bleakly beautiful album".

"The long opening piece Knockentanz introduces us to the unfamiliar but effective blend of sarangi, bass and guitar that, with occasionally rhythmic explosions, leads an idiosyncratic path to Khan's beautifully spiritual voice. With clear relish, Yorkstron and Thorne guide him into ever more mysterious outposts of a musical hinterland that involves Ivor Cutler's delicious Little Black Buzzer and Lal Waterson's fragile classic Song For Thirza amid a broad-ranging meander through their influences and traditions. Enlightened and challenging - an Incredible String Band for a brave new world".