IT had to be the first question.

"June, did you know your York concert will be part of the York Festival of Ideas?" What's On asked. "No! I better start thinking of some ideas, hadn't I," replied folk-singing luminary June Tabor, who will be joined by mellifluous soprano and tenor jazz saxophonist Iain Bellamy and off-kilter pianist Huw Warren at the National Centre for Early Music tomorrow night (June 17).

Under the name Quercus, the esteemed trio will tell of life’s bittersweet tales while weaving together folk and jazz in a chamber music framework. "We are a trio of voice, piano and saxophone, where the majority of the performance is song, although not exclusively so, as we have two of the finest jazz instrumentalists in the world and it doesn't seem fair not to give them prominence," says June.

"But it is words first and words are important because whatever atmosphere it is, a song never would be able to make me laugh, make my cry, without words. It needs to be visual too as I think of songs in terms of stories or short films, and they're intended to make listeners think and use their imagination in understanding a song. So, yes, there are ideas there, but I wouldn't say you would get a treatise out of them."

The "odd jazz standard fits in well" in a Quercus set, but June cautions: "We're also covering the morality of war in songs from the First World War or about that war and we're addressing the refugee crisis. Because songs come from a wide background, traditional songs are timeless, as they speak of experiences and emotions people might have had 300 years ago and we're still going through them now. Contemporary songs can do that too, and if all that fits in with the Festival of Ideas, then great!"

Do love songs have their place in a Quercus set list? "Yes, there are love songs in there, though not always successful in love," says June.

What is successful, however, is June's long-time creative partnership with Huw Warren, "We've worked together for 30 years and the more you understand music, the better you can play," she says. "Accompaniment is an art in itself. The relationship between voice and instrument is so important.

"We met in 1986 when I was doing a new project with Maddy Prior called Silly Sisters. We had done an album in 1975/76 with a star cast of illuminati in the folk world at the time, and I thought piano would be a good way of introducing different colours into the musical accompaniment in the new project.

"Huw Warren was recommended to us and I was so impressed, given that he came from a jazz and classical background, by how he embraced what we wanted to do."

In turn, Huw introduced June to Iain Bellamy's saxophone skills by playing her an album called Balloon Man, Bellamy's debut release, now out of print. "Then there was his All Men Amen album, a remarkable record with Iain and Django Bates that's quite extraordinary. Listening to it, I thought he was fantastic."

When Huw was invited to perform at the 2004 Berlin Jazz Festival, he was asked to bring two guests. He chose June Tabor and Iain Bellamy. Good idea, Huw.

"Again, Iain is a remarkably sympathetic musician to work with, where he can mirror the pattern of the voice," says June. "I was so taken by performing together that we then turned into our trio called Quercus."

Quercus, featuring June Tabor, play National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow (June 17) at 7.30pm as part of York Festival of Ideas. Box office: 01904 658338 or at ncem.co.uk