Sammy Says Ouch!

by Alex HendersonIt's important to know the difference between jazz-rock fusion and instrumental rock. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Stuart Hamm are masters of instrumental rock; Chick Corea, Scott Henderson, Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, and Joe Zawinul are masters of jazz-rock fusion. While a rock instrumentalist might appreciate jazz, his/her music ultimately sounds like an instrumental equivalent of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, or Deep Purple -- a jazz-rock fusionist, however, might tell you that John Coltrane, Hendrix, and James Brown played equally important roles in his/her musical development. A fusionist could spend hours telling you, in great detail, why John Bonham and Art Blakey were equally magnificent drummers. So, which category does Sammy Says Ouch! fall into? For the most part, instrumental rock. While Randy Coven's amplified interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" demonstrates that the electric bassist can handle jazz-rock fusion, Sammy Says Ouch! is, more often than not, aimed at the Steve Vai/Joe Satriani/Stuart Hamm crowd. Chops-obsessed, loud-and-proud instrumentals like "A Minor Disturbance" and "Dorian's Song" are appealing examples of instrumental hard rock -- they have a lot in common with Vai and Satriani but don't remind the listener of Return to Forever, Miles Davis, Weather Report, or John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra (artists who have defined jazz-rock fusion). And again, that isn't to say that Coven can't play fusion or handle jazz changes -- in fact, fusion is exactly what he plays on "Au Privave." But instrumental hard rock dominates this CD, which should have no problem appealing to those who have spent a lot of time listening to Vai, Satriani, and Stuart Hamm.