Brian Auger’s The Complete Oblivion Express box set to be released on CD and vinyl

Legendary organist Brian Auger’s entire Oblivion Express catalogue is being reissued in box set form by Soul Bank Music in October – the first time a complete box set of the group’s studio work has been released.

Oblivion Express rose from the ashes of Auger’s 1960s combo The Trinity. Fusing R&B, jazz, soul and funk Auger’s new group created a new breed of music that took the US and the UK by storm with its rhythmic jazz-funk that united black and white 1970s audiences.

The six studio albums that make up Complete Oblivion illustrate the group’s diverse musical influences and progression, from the self-titled debut’s heavy jazz-rock to the jazz fusion, Latin and disco-tinged Reinforcements; these changes were powered by the groups’ changing lineups, which included guitarists Jim Mullen and Jack Mills, drummers Robbie McIntosh and Steve Ferrone, bassists Barry Dean and Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. The Oblivion Express were highly rated by contemporary musicians – including Herbie Hancock – and have won a large and diverse group of admirers since. The albums included are: Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express and A Better Land from 1971; Second Wind (1972); Closer To It! (1973); Straight Ahead (1974); and 1975’s Reinforcements.

The music in this box set – on six CDs or six vinyl LPs – has been remastered from the original studio master tapes by Bill Smith at United Archiving in Los Angeles, and the set features faithful reproductions of the original album sleeves by Jaffa at The Unknown, as well as an extensive booklet featuring rare photos, posters and a lengthy interview with Brian Auger by Sarah Gregory.

Auger fans will also be delighted by the news that a new compilation, Auger Incorporated, will be released on 25 August on double CD and triple vinyl. Auger Incorporated is a career spanning compilation of Auger’s music and includes classic album tracks, rarities and live concert performances, some of which have never released before. It reaches back to his early 1960s debut as an poll-winning jazz piano prodigy, his transformation into swinging London’s premier Hammond player via his groups Steam Packet, The Trinity, and Oblivion Express. Among the highlights are an intense live version of ‘Freedom Jazz Dance’; the alternative mix/radio edit of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’; and the mid 1980s Italo-disco hit ‘Night Train To Nowhere’. Included in the package are expansive new sleeve notes by Greg Boraman and Brian Auger.

More details of both releases can be found here soulbank.k7store.com