Keyboard player Brian Auger's various Oblivion
Express lineups between 1971 and 1975 produced timely music reminiscent of such
other progressive rock and jazz-rock fusion performers of the time as the Mahavishnu
Orchestra, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and (especially when tenor Alex Ligertwood was
singing) Traffic, among others. (Sometimes, the straight jazz influences are overt,
as when 1973's "Whenever You're Ready" ends with the main riff of John Coltrane's
"A Love Supreme.") For a long time after, such groove-oriented music, with Auger's
bluesy organ and piano improvisations as its instrumental signature, seemed distinctly
dated. But more than two decades later, the group's prowess as a jam band impresses
anew on this two-disc, nearly two-and-a-half-hour, 24-track compilation. Featuring
such players as drummers Robbie McIntosh and Steve Ferrone (both later of the Average
White Band), the Express plays extended funky arrangements of originals and covers by
John McLaughlin, Marvin Gaye, and Wes Montgomery, as most tracks run on five minutes
or more. Auger maintains a rhythmic drive that reins in the solos and gives the band
a strong R&B base, but beyond that the players explore the tunes fully. The set
concludes with two post-Express Auger tracks, the later of which, "Sundown,"
recorded in 1987, has a more pop/rock sound than the other selections. |