Brian Auger's Oblivion Express

For over forty years, Brian Auger has been a 'musician's musician': Jazz pianist, bandleader, session man, Hammond B3 innovator, and key player in the rise of jazz/rock fusion. An incredible gentleman with one of the most varied careers in music, he has incorporated jazz, early British pop, R&B, soul and rock into an incredible catalogue that has won him legions of fans all over the world.

The Oblivion Express opened for Herbie Hancock's Headhunters,, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin and others, bridging rock, jazz and R&B genres, and sometimes did straight R&B gigs. Brian was voted the Number One Jazz Organist in the world in Contemporary Keyboard- magazine, largely behind the strength of his live playing with Oblivion Express. Visiting London in 1977, Auger invited Julie Driscoll to do another album again, and thus the album called Encore, (1977) and one more with Julie followed. After a year off, he did Planet Earth Calling after being approached by Head First Records.

In '89, he got a call from Eric Burdon (of the Animals), who "sounded like the Steam packet days all over again, you know, ‘I need someone to put a band together', " he recollects. Brian hoped that they "could update some of the arrangements and make it really like a great modern band and really nail everybody" but grew dissatisfied after four years because Burdon wanted to stick to Animals music. During those four years, though, Auger was able to tour the whole world (even going behind the Iron Curtain). His son Karma joined the band when the drummer quit two days before a European tour. Karma, working as a drum tech, was the only person around who knew all the material, and Burdon was kind enough to give him the drum chair in 1993. Auger decided to leave Burdon and concentrate on his own music in the mid to late 1990's. Auger formed his own family version of the Oblivion Express, with his children Karma on drums and Savannah performing, as the lead vocalist, along with a bassist Auger has selected. His first career retrospective, Brian toured Europe, where he drew large crowds at several jazz festivals, including a two night gig at the famed Montreux Jazz Festival.

There is no one on the planet quite like this amazing guy, who still comes to a gig ready to play, and not just walk through a set of oldies, but inject his music with the fire and passion that only a true original brings to the bandstand or studio.

Brian Auger is a true original, and we are fortunate to have him and his musical legacy as a vibrant part of today's music scene.