BRIAN AUGER & OBLIVION EXPRESS: Closer to it!

BRIAN AUGER
BRIAN AUGER é um senhor músico, muito admirado pelos seus pares, nos anos 70, não só por ser um "gentleman", como por seu talento: era considerado o "músico dos músicos" na área do jazz e rock. Brian Auger tem um domínio completo dos teclados e transita pela "fusion" com elegância e bom gosto, num estilo semelhante ao de Eumir Deodato e Gino Vanelli.
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BRIAN AUGER
Brian Auger (born 18 July 1939, London, England is a jazz and rock pianist, bandleader, keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ. Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon and others. He has incorporated jazz, early British pop, R&B, soul music and rock. In 1965 Auger formed the group The Steampacket, along with Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, Vic Briggs and Rod Stewart. In 1970 he formed Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, shortly after abandoning the abortive "Wassenaar Arrangement" jazz-fusion
commune in a small suburb of The Hague. The Oblivion Express served to cultivate several musicians, such as thed drummers Robbie McIntosh and Steve Ferrone, as well as guitarist Jim Mullen. After several projects, including albums with family members, he reformed the Oblivion Express in the late 1990s, with a line-up that eventually featured both his son and daughter. The Oblivion Express was revived with a 2005 recording and subsequent touring. The group featured Brian Auger, his son Karma Auger on drums, his daughter Savannah Auger on vocals, and Derek Frank on bass.
(Source: wikipedia)
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EDITORIAL REVIEW
The strongest studio recording by Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, "Closer to It!" is Auger's classic. Featuring his best-known composition, "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend," this album soars on the strength of Auger's multiple keyboard attack. Auger himself takes the lead vocal slot for the first time here, and though he relies on multi-tracking to fill out his sound, his vocals fit the music better than former (and later to return) vocalist Alex Ligertwood's did. Side two features covers of jazz classic "Compared to What" and Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues," both of which add new depth to the original compositions. Lennox Laington's congas give
the music a Santana-type of feel, and the whole album percolates from beginning to end....
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MINHA OPINIÃO
Sempre tive um "pé atrás" com essa coisa de "fusion" que, na maioria das vezes (com as exceções de praxe, como o "Blood, Sweat & Tears, "Chicago" e "Tower of Power" - para citar algumas delas), resultava num som híbrido, que não era jazz nem rock. Mas BRIAN AUGER e seu grupo se incluem entre as exceções. Neste álbum, B.A. acrescentou à sua "fusion" um toque latino - com as congas - criando um clima semelhante ao de CARLOS SANTANA, muito em evidência no início dos anos 70. O destaque é "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend ", um autêntico"blockbuster" de B.A.  
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BRIAN AUGER & OBLIVION EXPRESS: Closer to it!

PERSONNEL:
Brian Auger - Keyboards
Jack Mills - Guitar
Barry Dean - Bass
Godfrey Maclean - Drums
Lennox Langton - Congas

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
A1  Whenever You're Ready     
A2  Happiness Is Just Around The Bend    
A3  Light On The Path        
B1  Compared To What        
B2  Inner City Blues        
B3  Voices Of Other Times