Abbey Road at Dogwood Dell

Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band kicks off at the music series at Dogwood Dell (hello, summer) on Friday night to celebrate the release of their new album, The Abbey Road Project.

June 8, 2010; 1:22 PM • by Dean Christesen

Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band kicks off at the music series at Dogwood Dell (hello, summer) on Friday night to celebrate the release of their new album, The Abbey Road Project. It’s an album that’s been in the works for nearly two years by a group whose performances have become so intermittent that it constantly keeps people wondering what’s next for them.

Leader and saxophonist Trinh cites The Beatles as a main influence in his musical life and originally hoped re-arrange and perform The White Album in its entirety. Adrian Duke — keyboardist and vocalist in the band — advised him to start with Abbey Road. All that information and more is in the interesting videos below by VCU-TV.

But those videos were made in late 2008, shortly after the band’s first performance of the material at The National. Samson spent a lot of time at In Your Ear studios in 2009 working on the project, which meant no performances by the band while that consumed all of his time. Money was a huge factor in the delay of releasing the album. Getting the rights to 19 of The Beatles’ songs, among paying for other expenses, was “a pretty penny,” he said. Thankfully, good friends of his — a married couple named Brandon and Angie — stepped in became the project’s executive producers, purchasing the album and helping to pay for the rights and production of physical copies.

The band’s first full length album (and their second studio recording if you count their appearance on Samson Trinh’s debut Very Strange Night) was recorded by way of rhythm section first, then vocals, and then all horns. “I found that to be the best way to do it because you still get that live sound,” Samson said. By recording the drums, bass, guitars, and piano first, “what you’re doing is tightening up the rhythm section and doing your homework,” making any adjustments necessary. “I found it to be less stressful this way,” he said.

This year on Record Store Day (April 17) at Plan9 Music, Samson and the Upper East Side Big Band gave a teaser performance of some of the Abbey Road material that they’ll perform at Dogwood Dell. Samson arranged songs like “Come Together” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” to become the band’s own. You’ll hear what I mean if you check them out at the free show this Friday. The all-girl Beatles cover band The Girtles will play during set break.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbfUA78mF30[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOEoDIXh9k[/youtube]

Visit Samson Trinh’s YouTube channel

Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band perform at Dogwood Dell on Friday, June 11, 2010, at 8pm. Free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.richmondgov.com/parks

Purchase The Abbey Road Project on Digstation or at the performance