Belew glad he has right duo to form perfect power trio

Guitarist Adrian Belew has played with some of the best musicians in rock and pop, including Frank Zappa, Tori Amos, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and, since two years ago, Eric and Julie Slick.

While those last two names might not be as well known as the others, Belew is adamant that the Slick siblings are the real deal.

“It just so happened, magically, that I leapt into finding the best young duo in the whole country, I’m sure,” Belew said during a phone interview.

Collectively, Belew and the Slicks make up the Adrian Belew Power Trio, which will perform at Revolution Hall on Sunday at 7 p.m. The show is part of the trio’s “mop-up tour,” which includes dates in Florida, North and South Carolina and the Northeast.

“We just finished a complete U.S. tour, and now we’re going back to the areas that we didn’t get to go to,” Belew said. “We’re going to some of the secondary places that we really like to go to.”

When he spoke, Belew had just finished rehearsing with the group at his home studio in Tennessee the day before. The trio is currently working on its first studio record of original material, following last year’s live recording, “Side 4.”

“That’s why they were here,” Belew said. “I’ve written four new pieces so far, and we’re rehearsing new material to be recorded later this year.”

Belew assembled his trio to tour behind his most recent solo efforts, a succession of albums — “Side 1,” “Side 2” and “Side 3” — released in 2005 and 2006. The releases marked Belew’s first solo studio recordings since 1997’s “Op Zop Too Wah.”

According to Belew, the more lyrically sparse, instrumentally ambitious recordings found on these albums initially inspired the idea of forming a power trio. Belew recorded parts of the albums with bassist Les Claypool of Primus and drummer Danny Carey of Tool.

“Then Eric and Julie became my permanent, real trio, which shows you how good they are,” Belew said.

Belew met the Slicks when he was asked to host a seminar at the Paul Green School of Rock Music in Philadelphia. Eric and Julie Slick were two of the school’s earliest graduates.

“[Green] said, ‘You’ve got to hear my best graduates I’ve ever had,’ ” Belew said. “We played a little bit together, and that was how it started.”

The trio has helped to re-energize Belew, whose first big break into the music business came in 1977 when he joined Zappa’s touring band.

“The energy level is so different; we sound and play like a very young band, but a band that is very mature and experienced,” Belew said. “I can’t believe these guys are so good for their age. At the same time, [the audience] gets kind of a younger version of me.”

Tour with King Crimson

Although Belew is currently focused on his trio, he has other projects in the works. Seminal rock band King Crimson, which Belew has fronted since 1981, will be touring later this year into next year, although no new album is planned.

“It’s just a way to keep King Crimson moving forward,” Belew said. “Robert Fripp [guitarist and founder of King Crimson] and I are not ready to tackle [an album] again; we need two to three years to rest for a moment first.”

Belew says King Crimson has been tagged unfairly with the progressive rock label. Fans searching for a label for his power trio may be tempted to lump them into the progressive genre as well.

“Progressive rock is a very poor term,” Belew said. “The only label that works is power trio, going back to the ’60s with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream, and that continues today with Rush. It’s the only thing it’s comparable to, three sort of virtuoso musicians playing their butts off.”