Yorkston Jaycock Langendorf Yorkston / Jaycock / Langendorf

This is the first single from the upcoming self-titled Yorkston / Jaycock / Langendorf album. Featuring -

James Yorkston - Nyckelharpa
David A Jaycock - Guitar and things
Lina Langendorf - Saxophone

For UK orders, you're in the right place
For Canadian orders, go here - wearebusybodies.bandcamp.com
For European orders, go here - blacksweat.bandcamp.com

JY - "This is a mostly improvised sound-scapey album that comes via such influences as 70's & 80's ECM stuff, Alice Coltrane, Yorkston Thorne Khan, Willie Clancy, Faust, Don Cherry, The Drummers of Burundi, Ry Cooder & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Black Ark Lee Perry, and so much else besides"

We Are Busy Bodies and Black Sweat Records (Europe) announce the release of Yorkston / Jaycock / Langendorf, the collaborative album by James Yorkston, David A Jaycock, and Lina Langendorf. The album's atmospheric soundscapes. Yorkston’s evocative nyckelharpa, Jaycock’s intricate instrumentation, and Langendorf’s expressive saxophone lines create a richly textured journey—both intimate and expansive. The album will be released on May 23, 2025.



Interview with Bob Agnews.



Bob – Hello! Welcome to you all. First, let’s start with the name – It is similar to Yorkston Thorne Khan, but the music very different.



James Yorkston (JY) – Well, simply, we named the album in the order the tracks were recorded. I began, on nyckelharpa, then David with his bits and bobs, finally Lina, on Saxophone.



Bob – And how did the music come about?



David A Jaycock (DAJ) - James sent me these improvised pieces. Because they were improvised, I made my responses improvised too. Maybe I worked an initial idea or theme out first. I was really free in my responses using anything to hand. Mostly electric and acoustic guitars with lots of old effects. Analogue synths too.



Bob - And you, Lina?



Lina Langendorf (LL) – I got the music from James, and I thought DAJ was one of the musicians first name, so I wrote to James about Daj and was asking a bit about who had written the songs and so on. It was not until after I had recorded that I found out DAJ was a person named David A Jaycock.



JY – Yeah, Daj is just an abbreviation! Anyway, after David and I had recorded out bits, we asked Lina. I first met Lina whilst working in Sweden with the Secondhand Orchestra. She’s an exceptional musician, so it was an easy choice. I trusted her, and David trusted me, and it all worked well.



LL – James asked if I would like to record saxophone on some tracks that he had. I love James’ art/music and I’m very curious about music over all, so I said yes.



Bob – And how do you know David, James?



JY – David I’ve worked with on quite a few occasions. He’s a very interesting musician, always up to Yes Good… I first met him in 2008, I think, in a pub garden somewhere in middle England. He was wearing his girlfriend’s tan leather jacket and smoking roll-ups. We got on well.



Bob – And you, Lina?



LL - I first got in contact with James’ music when working as a music producer for a show at the Swedish radio. Since then, he has been one of them voices carrying me through life with his music. The very thought of us meeting in real life and actually play/make music together had never occurred as something that would happen. Now I've had the pleasure and honour to work with James for several years which has been a journey and a half. I love new acquaintances in music, so I am very grateful to have met David now too (not yet in real life but in music for sure).



Bob – Cool. And James, you said your parts came first? Can you elaborate?



JY - Well, on this record, I’m only playing nyckelharpa. The ‘harpa parts were improvised over basic ideas. Some were percussive, some a little more swooshy. I wanted the album to sound spontaneous though, so swooshy worked well. And then I passed them on to David.



DAJ - Having the ‘harpa parts there created fabulous modal, drone and hypnotic melodic themes and atmospheres to play with. Then hearing Linas soaring lines weave in and fly above us completed the record.



LL - I had no idea what instruments that was gonna be in there when I got the music sent to me, so I got kind of surprised by the sounds that reached me as I started to listen to the first track.



JY - We didn’t discuss ideas or what we were imagining the others to add at all. And I guess that’s an indicator of why it worked, everyone just felt their way through, with no weight of expectation or clumsy signposting.



DAJ - I think the trio thing works well with regards to us all occupying our own space and frequencies. It made it quite easy to put together.



LL – I do admit I was a bit nervous (or maybe sceptical) whether I had anything to contribute with or not to begin with. Less is more as we all know and I just enjoyed hearing James and Davids parts on their own, no need for anything more to be added. But James insisted so I gave it a try and here we are... Thank You James!



JY – That’s ok. I knew you’d slot right in. I wasn’t worried at all.



Bob – And can we mention a few influences? People like to hear about that sort of thing.



JY – I was taking influences from Alice Coltrane, mainly. But don’t blame her. Oh, and the VM Bhatt / Ry Cooder album ‘A Meeting by the River’.



DAJ - I can’t really put my finger on any one thing that influenced me on this record. Maybe 1970s 80s ECM records I have listened to over the years but also some freak folk and noise stuff.



LL - I just listened to the music that James and David had made and then let the saxophone speak for itself so no certain influences apart from James and Davids sound.



Bob – And may I ask where it was all recorded?



JY – Well, I have a small studio by the sea, here in Cellardyke, so that’s where I recorded my things. I think Lina recorded her parts in a small studio in Stockholm?



LL - I was recording in a very simple way (with one microphone straight into the computer) in the quite shabby/far from cosy rehearsal space that I have access too in Stockholm. Luckily, I can close my eyes and just dive into the music so then there’s no awareness of the place I’m at, there’s just me and the music.



DAJ – And James and Lina sent their parts to me in Cornwall where it was put together.



JY – David did a lot of the hard work, the actual mixing and such.



Bob – And are there any plans for the future? Any live shows on the horizon?



JY – We’re talking about doing some more music together, yes. And we’re certainly up for shows. Let’s just see what happens.



LL – Playing live is something on its own and would love to share this music with an audience present in the same room. The trio and the audience joined together in the moment when the music is being created.