Interview to Brian Auger

Im proud and excite to introduce to you another of my chats with a great Organist and Pianist that need no presentation ...Brian Auger , his Organ style groove us from the 60's till now !
Trinity , Oblivion Express , The Steampacket and all the London scene !
I hope you enjoy this interview i did .



Whats you favourite Bands and your musical tastes in the beginning and now ?




My Favourite bands early on were Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Blood Sweat & Tears, Steely Dan, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Mothers of Invention, Herbie Hancock Quintet, Aretha Franklin, Donnie Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and many many
more.
Today Tears for Fears, Brand New Heavies, Incognito, Jamiroquai, John Mayer, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Down To The Bone. etc etc.




Can you tell me about when you decide to move from Jazz and Piano to join Organ and R'n'B ?




I switched to the R&B/ Rock scene in 1964 and bought my first Hammond Organ in Early 1965. I have not left the Jazz Scene and I incorporate much Jazz in my music, and play on many Jazz Festivals. I also never left the piano and still play piano pieces every night on tour.




Flamingo Club in London was one of the many Clubs in where you played , how was the Club vibe in the 60's , which were the Sound of that period .




The three most influential clubs in Central London in the 60s were The Ronnie Scott Club ( strictly Jazz, and still going), The Flamingo, (home of the R&B organ based bands) and the Marquee Club ( home to Jazz, Blues and the new pop bands like The Who, Spencer Davis Group, The Steampacket, The Move etc etc. As one of the only musicians that played in all three clubs, always liked the Flamingo for its mixed audience of English kids, West Indian fans and American soldiers and airmen who came into London on the weekends. This was a dancing audience and had the best atmosphere.




I saw an Auger Driscol Compilation called " The Mod Years " , whats your relation with Mods ?




My connection with Mods began in the Steampacket. We wore tailored suits and Carnaby Street clothes and the public called us Mods for our "modern Style of Stage Wear'. Indeed the unknown Rod Stewart who really started his career in the Steampacket became known as Rod the Mod.




What you remeber about the Steampacket period and Long John Baltry , Stewart and Jules ?




Steampacket was a great group. The first Supergroup. Unfortunately there were three managers, one for Baldry, one for Rod and one for myself and Julie. This caused a lot of problems and we never got to record properly because we were all on different labels. The only tracks available were pirated.




Then the Trinity with Auger and Driscoll in '66 , "Open" in '67 and so on , did you get the feeling to be starting a group like that ?




At the end of the Steampacket, I already knew that I wanted to start a band that would be a bridge between the separate scenes of Jazz and Rock. I wanted a rhythm section that could play funky R&B + jazz and I wanted to put Organ Solos on that base using my Jazz Harmony chords and with a positive vocal message. This was the Trinity, the first band of its genre to headline the Montreux Jazz Festival , The Berlin Jazz Festival, The Rome Jazz Festival , and all in 1968 with our first album OPEN and our single SAVE ME.




How did you define the Trinity Sound and how the Oblivion Express sound ?





The sound of the Trinity and the sound of Oblivion Express were pointed out in the recording studio. I simply tried to make sure that everything that was played by each musician was clearly heard, and a little reverb was added. I am not a Phil Spectre who is trying to create a particular sound to every one of his recordings.



When and how you decide to form the Oblivion Express ?




After the Trinity broke up in 1970, I really wanted to push the musical envelope and develop the Jazz Fusion music that I had started.
As this meant that I would be going against the wishes of the record company who wanted more and more commercial music, I thought I was going the quickest way to Oblivion,( Oblio) so I called the band The Oblivion Express, (Il Rapido a Oblio). We are still going, but now with my Daughter Savannah on Vocals, and my son Karma on drums. This is the happiest Express so far.





I know you played a lot in Italy and also that you speak Italian , tell me something about your Italian side .




I first came to Italy as a student when I was 16 years old and instantly loved Italy and the Italian people. In 1967 I came back as a musician to play in a club in Milano and met my wife, who is from Cagliari Sardegna. This was the best thing that ever happened to me.I already had studied French and Latin at college, and Italian came easily for me. My connection with the Italian fans grows stronger every year, and I sent my three children to study in Italy so my whole family speaks fluent Italian.




Can you tell me something special , a funny thing or a story about your B3 ?



My Hammond B3 in the USA, originally was built in London England, but when I moved to the US, I had to install an American tone generator in it. So it is the only Anglo American Hammond that I know about.




Whats your future plans ?




My future plans are to play live with my band until I leave the Planet.

interview to Dr Lonnie Smith

I got the idea to ring and chat with DR Lonnie Smith after visiting his website and finding out about his participation at Umbria Jazz 2006. Many of his records like “Afro-Desia”, “Move Your Hand” or “Finger Lickin’ Good Soul Organ” make up much of my DJ set playlist and so for me it was a great honour to be able to have a friendly chat with a legend of Hammond Jazz and a favourite organist of mine.Lonnie Smith has been on the front line of the jazz scene since 1967. He’s collaborated with Lou Donaldson, David Newman, Blue Mitchell, Joe Lavano , George Benson, Jack McDuff , Dizzy Gillespie, Grover Washington Jr, Ron Carter, Jimmy McGriff, Leon Thomas amongst others. He’s recorded and appeared on over 70 records.He’s also well known for his work with the R’n’B and Soul greats like Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Etta James, The Impressions and the Coasters.DR Lonnie Smith has recently been awarded “Best Jazz Organist” 2003/2004/2005 by the Jazz Journalist Association.Today, Smith continues to play throughout Europe, America and The Far East. Keep an eye on your paper because he regularly appears and plays in small Jazz Bar venues.
As always i find an incredible humble person....


How did you start playing Jazz music?
Mine was a family of singers. In the beginning I sang in Pop groups. When, in a church, I heard the organ for the first time I was gripped by the sound of this instrument and I feel in love with it. I was also very taken by Jazz music and when I heard guys like Wild Bill Davies and Jimmy Smith, I said to myself that that was the music I had to make from that moment on.My problem was that I didn’t know how to play Jazz music, so I used the experience I had to start playing this type of music, starting from what I knew, and that was Pop music.

And so you took to the Hammond...
When I was a kid I’d always go to Art Kubera’s musical instruments shop in Buffalo, every day, like it was my job, I’d go there in the morning and leave in the evening, just to see and look at the Hammond organs.One day I found the shop closed and just as I was leaving the owner calls me round the back and tells me: ”You see that organ? Take it, it’s yours” I couldn’t believe it, it was a brand new organ that was worth a lot of money.From then on I started playing it by ear because I couldn’t read music, and by making use of my experience with Motown, Soul and Pop and what I heard from Smith and Davies. I started playing in all the Jazz Music Jam Sessions and started to get myself noticed. That man was angel for me and he completely changed my life. Even today when I see him, we talk about this thing that happened many years ago.

You’ve worked many times with George Benson amongst others. How did you two meet?
I met Benson through other people, during a Jack Mc Duff concert. George was playing with him. Jack called me onstage and Benson was taken by the way I played.At the end of the concert we got to know each other and he asked me for my phone number.After a while, I got to know that he was looking for me because he had left McDuff but had lost my number, so through Jimmy Boyd, a manager that hung out at “Smiles Paradise” club and who had also arranged for me to play with Grant Green, he was able to contact me.And that’s how I started playing with George Benson.

Tell me a story about that period...
After we’d become friends we found ourselves in his mother’s house in Pittsburgh and we went into the cellar. That day we ended up rehearsing two songs “Secret Love” and “Clockwise” and our band was born.After a while that we’d been playing here and there, some managers from Columbia heard us and signed us both up. For Columbia I recorded “Finger-Lickin’ Good Soul Organ”.

I know that you were much sought after as an organist at that time.
At that time you’d play a lot with everybody, David Newman, Blue Mitchell, Lee Morgan, King Kurtis, Lou Donaldson and Grant Green amongst others I played on many Donaldson albums up until Blue Note asked me to record my own: “Move Your Hand”, “Turning Point”, “Think!”, and “Drives”. In a few of the tracks on those albums you can hear a lot of the origins of Pop Soul like “Sunshine Superman” and “Spinning Wheels”. I then recorded with Grove Merchant up until 1976 and so on.

Which musician have you had most feeling with and created most?
During my career I have played with many musicians and continue to do so till this day. Without a doubt Donaldson is the one with which I had an extraordinary rapport, almost like a marriage. Lou and I are still very close and our friendship is incredible .

As you are still very actively playing, what do you think of this new explosion of 60’s Soul Jazz, / Boogaloo?
I’m stupefied to see that today many people and many youngsters listen to music that we wrote in the 60’s.At that time I would never have thought that our music would have such a long life. Just think, Lou and I are still playing “Alligator Boogaloo” (1967).

What are your future projects? Are you coming to Italy?
My dream would be to create a sort of resting place for Jazz musicians; many don’t have insurance or pensions. I’m playing all over, a lot; I’ll be in Italy for Umbria Jazz in July.