From: Roy DeRousse
<>
Trace is one of my favorite symphonic bands! All of them are good, but I'd get Trace
first, then Birds, then the White Ladies. Any fan of ELP or Triumvirat would be sure to
love these guys!
From: Greg Young <>
I can second that recommendation. To expound a bit further, they are essentially an
instrumental trio incorporating many jazz and classical stylings into a virtuoistic rock
format. The main classical influence seems to be Baroque in nature, although later
classical forms emerge at times. I think that the self-titled first contains the most
overt jazz influence along with the greatest degree of technical proficiency. Birds is
dominated by the 20+ minute title suite, which demonstrates a greater degree of thematic
development than their previous pieces allowed. There are also some sparse vocals here,
which are OK although personally I would have accepted them better if delivered in a
language I'm not familiar with. Birds also has a good Bach adaptation with Darryl Way
guesting on violin. White Ladies is one long conceptual piece which emphasizes theme and
arrangement even more, with the core trio expanded to include additional musicians
including various wind instruments. One track has female vocals, while another two contain
a kind of awkward dramatic narration. There's also some nice lead synth lines using
unusual voicings. My personal order of preference for the three releases matches that of
Roy.
From: Peter Abusamra <>
One of the Progears guys recommended this group to me last week-end in Montreal.
Don't know if anyone's familiar with them but they started in '74 (from
Holland). Anyway I got the first one today (from Doug Larsen > Imports) S.T.
Some great playing on this (all instrumental). Best way to describe them is
ELP's S.T. meets R.W.'s 6 Wives meets Focus. A trio-no guitar-highly
recommended!
From: David Eric Shur <>
Subject: Trace
> One of the Progears guys recommended this group to me last week-end...
Indeed, the first Trace album is wonderful. Very similar in style to
Wakeman's style with respect to the baroque keyboard playing. Their second album
featured Daryl Way on some key material but lacked the "bite" of the
first album. The third album also was poor- stick with their first and enjoy a
great workout!
From: "tonydd56" <>
Subject: Re: Trace
Great band alright, their 'Birds' album is exquisite!
From: "upnsm0ke"
<> Subject: Re: Trace
Trace kicked ass... too bad they only did so on a whopping THREE releases (the
first two much more than the third/last). Trace folded because _The White
Ladies_ sold only 15K copies (and Ian Mosley and Jaap van Eik had already bailed
after the 2nd, _Birds_). They must have been so killer live...Rick van der
Linden was easily Wakey, Moraz & Emo's equal (and in the 60s, he was
inspired to form Ekseption after attending a concert by The Nice). Definitely
get _Birds_ next.
From: David Eric Shur <>
Subject: Re: Trace
Oh, sorry for the confusion. The band on Birds is Rick Van Der Linden on
keyboards, Jaap Van Eck on bass, and Ian Mosley on drums. Pierre Van Der Linden
had quit, and they found Ian Mosley available, as Daryll Way's Wolf had just
disbanded. Mosley brought along Way to guest star on the album.