Lindsay/Ivor Cutler, 2. Return to Y'Hup

In 2019 a group of musicians based in Scotland began the Return to Y’Hup project, producing a tribute album of Ivor’s work and a major concert performance of the album at the 2020 Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. Return to Y’Hup features leading members of Scotland’s folk, jazz, pop and rock communities – including Raymond MacDonald, Matt Brennan (a.k.a. Citizen Bravo), Karine Polwart and Kris Drever – as well as guest appearances from long-term Ivor Cutler associates Robert Wyatt and Phyllis King. Return to Y’Hup is an indication of the love and respect still felt for Ivor Cutler in the Scottish arts community and beyond. This chapter investigates the development of the project through interviews with MacDonald, Brennan and others who were actively involved in this development. It goes on to discuss the Ivor Cutler songs and poems selected for the project, the creation of Ivor’s imaginary island of Y’Hup and his early declaration of his work as an Oblique Musical Philosopher.