By Chip Schramm

The new groove for the month of April is no stranger to these pages. Uncle Sammy is hardly a newcomer to the jamband scene, however their persistence and continued development over the course of the past few years warrants a closer look at their music. Hailing from Boston, MA, Uncle Sammy has made a name for itself through tireless regional touring and gigging at clubs such as the House of Blues in Boston and Wetlands Preserve in New York City. The band has a four-piece lineup consisting of Max Delaney on guitar, Brian O'Connell on bass, Beau Sasser on keyboards, and Tom Arey on drums.

The band has shared bills and jammed with nearly all of their jamband contemporaries so creative improvisation is something they clearly embrace. When asked about their contemporary influences, Delaney comments, "All of us feel like a musical sponge in many respects. We tend to draw influences from a lot of bands around us in the scene." This attitude towards experimentation and collaboration that lies at the heart of the jamband movement clearly continues to inspire them.

Uncle Sammy embraces a number of different genres, from funk to latin to reggae, and most recently, a trance/house/techno sound. When discussing the band's various sounds Delaney offers, "The trance has definitely been permeating our music a lot more recently. We're also adopting our jams into some more simplified funk/jazz grooves. At the same time a lot of our older sound which was more jam-rock based is also still an equally strong. At this point I would have a hard time saying exactly where we're headed in terms of any one specific direction. We really enjoy the challenge of trying to incorporate elements of everything we hear around us."

They write their own songs and sing on some of them, however the long, instrumental segments of their live performances are what really make them stand out. Delaney's skills on the electric guitar are the steam that powers the band's engine. His fingers are extremely nimble, flying up and down the neck of the guitar, making it look too easy. In many of their songs, his lead guitar work seems to be the focal point for the jams, with the rest of the band supporting him and taking their solos at the appropriate moment.

The band's most recent performances have showcased instrumental jams that are tightly looped, not so much unlike the grooves spun by DJs at a dance party. This type of music is more popular than ever before, both in dance club and live concert settings, so it makes sense that Uncle Sammy would find plenty of support developing their music in this vein. Delaney's participation with Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein in the Maui Project perhaps served as some influence for exploration of this emerging sound.

Again Delaney sheds some light. "The whole vibe of the players he recruited for the project was one of just having fun together . I got a lot of inspiration from the whole thing." When listening to Uncle Sammy live in concert for the first time, I thought about the analogy of the solar system: the bass, drums and keyboards were laying the foundation like the earth revolving around the sun, while Delaney packed his own groove by spiraling around that sound with his lead guitar solos, like the moon circling the Earth. Maybe that's a little far-fetched, but those are the pictures evoked in my mind by their recent playing.

Don't let the astral allusions throw you off. Uncle Sammy's music also draws from classic rock and roots rhythm as well. Many of the melodies in their songs hark back to sounds from 70's rockers like Steely Dan. Not surprisingly, they occasionally perform a few Steely Dan covers like Bodhisattva and Peg. Delaney adds, "We're big fans of their writing. I think Donald Fagen is one of the premier songwriters in the history of pop and rock music. It's a great thing to see how his influence is still prevalent in a lot of modern bands. They were the dark horse of the music scene for so long."

Arey's drumming also mixes in Latin influences, as he is known for his Afro-Cuban playing style. Vocals are not the strongest suit for the band, so they do tend to rely on their instrumental skills to stretch things out and raise the intensity of their songs from the inside out. They have been known to jam for more than four hours without leaving the stage, so the listener better be ready for an all-out instrumental attack.

Uncle Sammy is definitely a band that recognizes the need to improve itself over time and embrace new musical trends. The music industry in Boston clearly agrees, as it nominated the band for "Jamband of the year" at the 2001 Boston Music Awards to be presented in April. Uncle Sammy continues a national tour as of press time. A quick look at their set lists from each night reveals that they continue to break-in new songs, examining new musical spaces and textures. As they carry their music far and wide, adventurous music fans would be well advised to catch them at a venue sometime soon.

For current tourdates and other updated information on the group visit http://www.unclesammy.com