Trace is a
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
progressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band founded by
Rick van der LindenRick van der Linden was a Dutch composer and keyboardist. Van der Linden first gained fame as a member of Ekseption, but played in several other bands including most notably Trace, as well as solo...
after leaving
EkseptionEkseption was a Dutch progressive rock ensemble with changing membership, active from 1967 to 1989, growing out of the bands The Jokers and Incrowd. The group started out playing jazz, pop and R&B covers...
.
History
In 1973 after releasing their album entitled
Trinity, the members of the band
EkseptionEkseption was a Dutch progressive rock ensemble with changing membership, active from 1967 to 1989, growing out of the bands The Jokers and Incrowd. The group started out playing jazz, pop and R&B covers...
asked
Rick van der LindenRick van der Linden was a Dutch composer and keyboardist. Van der Linden first gained fame as a member of Ekseption, but played in several other bands including most notably Trace, as well as solo...
to leave the band. At this time Ekseption were quite famous which led
PhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, 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 LindenPierre van der Linden, born 19 February 1946 in the Netherlands, is a jazz drummer whose style was influenced by his childhood hero Buddy Rich....
, who had left
FocusFocus is a Dutch rock band which was founded by classically trained organist/flautist Thijs van Leer in 1969, and is most famous for the instrumental pieces "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia"...
in 1973. To complete the trio, Rick finally asked Jaap van Eick, a self-taught musician considered to be one of the best Dutch bass players, to join the band.
On the 9th September 1974 the trio released their first, self-titled album.