Reviews

Trevor Dick Band


Trevor Dick Band

Trevor Dick Band

Award-winning instrumentalist Trevor Dick and his long-time bandmates have entered new territory with the introduction of the Trevor Dick Band’s debut album, New World. This world/jazz/folk fusion project with classical and modern pop/rock underpinning takes you from Africa to Latin America to Europe and North America, erasing all borders.

As a solo artist, Trevor’s five previous albums were in the gospel/sacred vein. 2010’s Yahweh won two GMA Covenant Awards including instrumental album of the year. Trevor helmed those recordings, but the combination and arranging contribution of all five seasoned musicians — Brad Toews (keys); Tony Lind (guitar); Will Jarvis (bass); Steve Heathcote (drums); and Trevor (violin, viola) — to the songwriting took the Ontario-based group in a new creative direction.

“I was born in Nigeria, Africa, so I have a love for African music, especially West African,” says Trevor, “and another band member, Will, is a specialist in Latin American music — Cuban and Brazilian — so we were feeling fairly restricted creatively in the music that we were previously doing. We were ready for something brand new.”

Produced by the Trevor Dick Band, along with co-producer/engineer/mixer Richard Cleaver, at Toronto’s state-of-the-art Noble Street Studios and various home studios, the quintet spent a year in pre-production, writing and arranging such songs as “Bourbon Street Carnival,” “East of Sinai,” “Perpetuum” and “Ifriqiya,” and another year recording. Cellist Kevin Fox is the only guest on the 15-song album for the “Schindler’s List” and “New World” tracks.

“On most of our previous projects, I did the majority of the writing and just pitched that material to the band to rehearse and arrange,” says Trevor. “New World was the most collaborative effort we’ve had as a band, where everyone played a much more significant role in the writing and arrangements. Amazing, fresh and exciting things can happen when collaborating fully as a team. We saw this with New World as we worked together at a deeper level and pooled our ideas, musical skills and experience.”

“Bourbon St. Carnival” was written by Tony whose style is quirky and experimental, resulting in a fun, groovy blues tune that conjures up a New Orleans’ party vibe. “East of Sinai,” one of Trevor’s compositions, is a turbulent, dramatic “spy song”, reflecting the unrest in the Middle East. Trevor’s “Perpetuum,” with its repetitive motif, represents the constant revolution of the earth, passage of time, changing seasons and cycle of life and his “Ifriqiya” — North African for ‘sunny place’ — is a cheerful rhythmical number exploring the beauty of humanity and diversity, despite the hardships. The title-track is a medley of “What A Wonderful World,” popularized by Louis Armstrong, and the main theme of Anton Dvořák’s “New World Symphony.” The combination of the two are significant to The Trevor Dick Band.

“‘New World Symphony’ was written when Dvořák saw the new world [North America] for the first time and was inspired by the African and Native American people and music,” says Trevor. “For this reason, we felt a pairing with ‘What A Wonderful World,’ was appropriate. The song embodies the spirit of adventure, risk, vision and exploring new worlds. We chose it as the title track to this album because of the new direction we have taken with this project.

“The music on this album also represents that sense of excitement, adventure, vision and sacrifice when our forefathers and mothers left the Old World, got on a ship and sailed into the unknown, in faith, and discovered the New World. That’s what this album is all about — that longing for adventure, that sense of creativity, the drive to explore new territories with reckless abandon.”

Trevor Dick Band – EPK Video

Trevor Dick Band – Change The World

Trevor Dick Band links:

Band location – Ontario Canada

Go to Trevor Dick Band Website here

Check out Trevor Dick Band on Facebook here

Watch Trevor Dick Band on You Tube here

Listen to Trevor Dick Band on Soundcloud here

Find Trevor Dick Band on WorldMusicCentral here

Check out Trevor Dick on Reverbnation here

Follow Trevor Dick Band on Twitter here

Follow Trevor Dick Band on Instagram here

Buy Trevor Dick Band music on Itunes here

Listen to Trevor Dick Band on Spotify here

Check out Trevor Dick Band on Google Plus here

Check out Trevor Dick at CD BABY here

Check out Trevor Dick Band on CDBabay mobile here

 


PETE'S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS.COM