TREVOR RABIN – Oklahoma EP (2023)

Exquisite musician TREVOR RABIN is generally regarded as the man who saved Yes. He crafted four stellar Yes studio albums over twelve years, and performed on copious tours with Yes and the off-shoot Yes iteration Anderson Rabin Wakeman (ARW). Rabin became a shining light in Progressive Rock over that time.

Just imagine, if you will, a once-isolated South African boy from the tip of the Dark Continent saving the career (and perhaps even the genre) of the huge international Prog band that he grew up loving. Moreover, Rabin wrote Yes’ biggest hit ever in ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’ and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
But even Rabin’s massive contribution to Yes should not overshadow his solo work. Now 2023, after many years, Rabin will release next a new album in a ‘song format’, with vocals, fully elaborated, titled ”Rio”.
Today, as advance, Trevor Rabin is presenting the EP ”Oklahoma”, including 3 tracks from the upcoming album.

‘Push’, with its elaborate guitar, vocal, piano and strings arrangement, will remind you why you loved the deeper tracks on Yes’ 90125 LP so much. Intricate and intense with Yes-like vocals interwoven with stunning instrumentation, this song makes the patently obvious point that Rabin was the driving force behind the 1980’s revival of Yes. With a violin solo, tinkling Wakeman-like piano and odd time signatures courtesy of the one and only Vinnie Colaiuta, we are off and running to the Prog races.
That Yes had an identifiable sound in the 80’s is undisputed, and if you are one of those who enjoyed that sound, you will love ‘Push’.

Acoustic guitar of the most flamboyant yet tasteful kind forms the core of ‘Oklahoma’, a paean to the tragic history of one American province that suffered a lethal terrorist bombing. Such a tragic topic has to be handled with great sensitivity, and Rabin does just that, somehow making the country guitar work and lyrics sound infinitely sadder and more melancholy, just by using pure emotion.
It becomes very cinematic and Rabin’s voice does the rest as this beautiful track unfolds into the traumatized countryside of the listener’s imagination. Astoundingly sad and beautiful.

‘Big Mistakes’ rocks with an effective guitar groove. The riff lays the foundation for Rabin’s sweet vocals and his typically discordant lead solo. About surviving the rigors of his youth, the song is autobiographical. The elaborate bass lines are reminiscent of one Mr Squire and the track immediately harkens the listener back to more straightforward Rabin-era Yes hits such as ‘Love Will Find a Way’. A mighty song and, one would think, definitely a hit single.
Can’t wait for the full album.

01 – Oklahoma
02 – Push
03 – Big Mistakes

Trevor Rabin – all instruments, vocals
Lou Molino – drums
Vinnie Coliuta – drums on “Push”
Liz Constantine – backing vocals
Dante Marchi – backing vocals

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