Jeff Golub + Brian Auger -- The Hamilton - Aug 25 2013

Jeff Golub, Brian Auger, Steve Williams, Conrad Korsch - Guitar, keyboards, drums, and bass respectively are the instruments of choice for this jazz combo. It is all electric and like many of the classic sounds of Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, there is a rock-jazz feeling in much of the music. The rhythm section kept the age average down for the group, although the veteran Golub is also a full generation younger than the long running 74 year-old keyboard whiz. The good news is that Brian Auger is not just the name to draw in the crowds, but also the star of the show. His work on the big old Hammond B-3 was soulful and had a bit of panache. He had an electric piano on top which he used often jumping around on his keyboards. Not even the rebooting needed for it slowed them down, as it allowed more time for his rambling, yet funny stories told with that quirky classic British humor. The rhythm section did their job well, and Steve Williams is not the drummer for Budgie, but was every bit as steady. It is rather tougher to judge Jeff Golub, the Ohio born jazz blues guitarist. He played with great care and style, but there was not much that stood out. The tough part in the judgment, is knowing his story where he went blind at an advanced age and after that stepped on to what he thought was a train, but instead fell into an oncoming train who dragged him through the station for a distance. So his frailty is understandable and in lieu of that, it is great to see him playing so well. They covered a lot of songs from Golub's ironic "Train Keeps a Rolling" album which features Auger and a few songs from the Oblivion days. Those songs had the only vocals, which as Auger states he rather rustily delivered. Another favorite of mine and the crowd was their cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman". The Eddie Harris songs were interesting, particularly as Brian Auger explained that one songs was written in fourth intervals, which was unusual and only originally intended as an exercise for saxophonists. So this was an engaging show that did not really dazzle, but had enough positive moments from some very interesting musicians.

                                  photo - John Vitesse


Quote of the Night: After Jeff Golub plugged their CD Brian Auger added... "For those of you willing to buy a CD, Jeff + I will come out and sign them (applause). No, actually as most of you know, it is the unsigned ones that are the rare ones. Anyway, we will be willing, no, desperate to sign them."