Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express

Brian Auger still insists on lugging around his Hammond B-3. The sucker weighs 300 pounds and is nearly obsolete, but no fan of soul, gospel or jazz would argue against using the organ. Auger himself had an epiphany the first time he heard one, and it’s not hard to hear why he hangs on to his. It’s the catalyst behind the blend of jazz melodicism, soulfulness and muscular funk that has become an Auger trademark since he began melding the genres back when blues was taking the British rock scene by storm. Auger has collaborated with a laundry list of luminaries — Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart and Animals singer Eric Burdon among them — but it’s his resurrected Oblivion Express that still has him happily dragging his B-3 bomber around after forty years in the business.