Ex-Yes multi-instrumentalist and film composer Trevor Rabin releases his first vocal-based solo album in 30 years
Artist: Trevor Rabin
Album: Rio (InsideOutMusic)
Despite a career that started at the age of 17, with work as a session musician in his native South Africa and stints in SA bands such as Conglomeration and Rabbitt, Trevor Rabin is probably best known for taking over guitar duties in Yes during the mid-80s. He was also responsible for the band’s biggest hit Owner Of A Lonely Heart and much of the writing on Yes’s chart-storming 90125 album. You may even have seen his name on the soundtracks of films such as Armageddon, Bad Boys II and National Treasure.
A multi-instrumentalist by nature but perhaps a guitarist by choice, he was last seen brandishing his old faithful beaten-up Strat when Yes offshoot Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman toured the UK in 2016 and ’17. Since then there’s been more film work, but recently Rabin began work on Rio, a new solo project that finds the musician taking centre stage playing most of the instruments himself, while also taking on the role of lead vocalist – something he hasn’t done for 30 years.
Listening to the album it becomes obvious that while you can take the man out of prog, remnants of the genre will always remain inside the man…
Would you agree there is a prog influence aboard the new album?
“Definitely. I mean, there was no ‘I’m going to do this kind of record or that kind of record.’ And demographically I went all over the place and just visited [different sounds]. So there’s definitely prog influence on it.”
We thought we heard a touch of Toto in the arrangements, too?
“Well, that’s very possible. One of my close friends is Luke [Steve Lukather]. In fact, Joe Bonamassa played at the Hollywood Bowl with an orchestra the other night and I did a bunch of orchestrations for the show and I saw Luke there. I hadn’t seen him for a while.”
There’s a huge orchestral sound in the arrangements all through the album.
“I studied orchestration when I was 19 with a remarkable professor in South Africa who’s not with us any more. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to get into film composing because I thought, ‘What better platform to make a bit of a living?’ Having done, I don’t know, 50 movies or more, I think that infiltrated the palette, if you like.”
When did the writing begin for Rio ?
“A lot of it started a long time ago. After I’d finished touring with Jon and Rick [as Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman], I realised I wasn’t really in the frame of mind to get into a whole bunch of even more movies. There was a time I was doing six or seven
