Dame Evelyn Glennie discusses her collaboration with Trio HLK , her relationship to jazz and her Oor Wullie collection.

How did you meet Trio HLK?

I met Trio HLK last year following their invitation to participate in the debut CD recording Standard Time. We met via skype before then heading into the remote recording session at my studio.

Why did you want to work with them? What is their USP?

This was a very different project and collaboration for me and I wanted to have that challenge of doing something different. Obviously, I realised that the trio consists of three utterly amazing musicians. Their musical voice is totally unique; the musical material allows each musician to show their individual identity and yet merge as the brilliant trio they are. They are all about the music, the journey of a piece, creating suspense, surprise, sparseness, density, twists and turns, always keeping the audience interested. Their music, in my opinion, is timeless and cannot really be categorized.

What was the brief for the album?

The brief was to play on 2 tracks. I was given material to play on vibraphone and marimba, but the Trio was open to any suggestions as regards to instrumentation or interpretation. That’s what I liked from the outset – nothing was completely set in stone and even now there is room for experimentation.

What was it like in the studio? Did you have to be on your toes?

You have to be on your toes for any recording session. The difference was that it was done at my studio so we were not limited to how long a session could be. We worked hard, we knew what had to be achieved and that was that. The Trio has a wonderful way about them which is relaxed, yet utterly focused. They have great trust in each other and what they do.

The album is a pretty intense listen. Did it feel like that in the studio? How did you decompress when needed?

It is intense and it took me a while to get past that musical tension in order to feel my own emotion with it. Because the Trio members are relaxed and very humble there is such mutual respect which created a really healthy working environment. They never lose the focus of what is needed to be achieved and for me that was perfect for how I work. A cup of tea and biscuits galore helped decompress!

You have always been open to different musical languages. What is your relationship with jazz?

This is all rather new to me, but I have relished the challenge. So much of what I have done over the years have been new challenges and this project has been the same. I didn’t get tied up with the categorisation of the music. It has been simply seeing each piece as a wonderful nougat that has its own journey and emotion. The non-categorization of music has helped me feel I can at the very least attempt to approach certain collaborations.

Is there a sense that the jazz scene is on the up at the moment?

I have no idea. I have never been aware of the jazz scene being up or down. I’ve always seen plenty of jazz performances being promoted wherever I have travelled in the world and it’s great that many diverse venues are displaying jazz performances.

What else are you working on right now?

I’m knee deep in writing/recording the music for a Royal Shakespeare Company play for later this year. I have a collaboration in May with Roly Porter and another in July with the Orchestra of Samples. I’m celebrating the 90th anniversary of composer Thea Musgrave with the BBC SSO and taking part in The Biggest Weekend with the same orchestra. The release of John McLeod’s Percussion Concerto has just happened, so it seems there are a lot of Scottish-related things happening in the next month. It’s certainly a year of diversity and travel. My overriding focus is the development of The Evelyn Glennie Archive Collection which will eventually be put into a centre focusing on listening.

When you are in Edinburgh for the album launch what’s the one thing you will do when you have five minutes to yourself?

I always visit the drum stores and also find another item to add to my ‘Oor Wullie’ and ‘The Broons’ collection!

Dame Evelyn Glennie will join Trio HLK at the launch of their album Standard Time at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on May 13.