Trace (band)

Trace
The band in 1974. From left to right: Jaap van Eik, Pierre van der Linden & Rick van der Linden
Background information
Origin	Haarlem, Netherlands
Genres	Progressive rock instrumental rock
Years active	1974–1978
Past members	Jaap van Eik Pierre van der Linden Rick van der Linden

Trace was a Dutch progressive rock trio founded by Rick van der Linden in 1974 after leaving Ekseption. They released three albums before merging back into Ekseption.

In 1973, after releasing their album entitled Trinity, the members of the band Ekseption asked Rick van der Linden to leave the band. At this time Ekseption were quite famous which led Philips, their record-company, to give van der Linden the opportunity to find a new band.

In January 1974 van der Linden started rehearsals with Peter de Leeuwe, who had been playing drums with Ekseption before. The pair split up again soon after, since van der Linden considered de Leeuwe to lack in skill. De Leeuwe was replaced in February by Pierre van der Linden (a second-cousin of Rick), who had left Focus in October, 1973. To complete the trio, Rick finally asked Jaap van Eik, a self-taught musician considered to be one of the best Dutch bass players, to join the band. Originally named Ace (in the tradition of Cream and Flash to highlight their supergroup status), they had to change the name to Trace when they discovered a British band had already trademarked the name.

On 9 September 1974 the trio released their first, self-titled album. Their second album, Birds was released on 1 January 1975, and featured future Marillion drummer Ian Mosley. A third album, The White Ladies, was released in 1976 with Rick van der Linden being supported by all of the former members of Ekseption save trumpeter Rein van den Broek. In 1978 van den Broek rejoined the group which effectively became Ekseption once again.

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All tracks written & arranged by Rick van der Linden except as noted

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