Brian Auger. Organ. And keyboards; Karma Auger, drums and percussion; Savannah Auger, vocals; Dan Lutz, bass; Chris Clermont, guitars; Long John Oliva, congas.
Brian Auger, the leader of this group, obviously carries all of the tunes with extremely strong solos on organ and keyboards. The group is without doubt very talented and most members were obviously hand picked by a master musician. Unfortunately, nepotism doesn't always work when it comes to talent. Auger's daughter, being the weakest link of the band, sings all of the right notes in the right places. Sadly, her vocals are without feeling or dynamics. On the other hand, Brian Auger did exceptionally well with outstanding drummer/producer/son, Karma Auger, who plays with enthusiasm and technique. No weakness here... The selections are quite interesting. The group does a very good job on "Splotch," composed by Marcus Miller, the band gives it a totally different funk twist which keeps it fresh. "Victor's Delight" is a great tune and probably the best selection on the recording with contrasting Latin and straight ahead attitudes. With sizzling organ, piano, guitar, conga, and drum solos, this tune helps to bring a very high level of Jazz to the project. "Jam Side Down" a hot groove tune, is buried at the end of the project but shows the ability of individual members of the band and could have easily been an opener! "Circles" has a pleasant melody and it would have been interesting to hear it as an instrumental. As far as instrumental musicianship is concerned, one would be hard pressed to find a better group of qualified musicians. A CD with no more than 3 vocals would have been stronger choice for Brian Auger this time around instead of the other way around with only three instruments.
By Kenney Polson