Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec Unitę for New Album ‘Recreational Substance’
Ready to ascend to guitar heaven? Acclaimed and incendiary plectrists Andrew Synowiec and Oz Noy take you there on their co-led quartet release Recreational Substance. Backed by the monster rhythm section of bassist Hadrien Feraud (John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension, Chick Corea’s Vigil) and drummer extraordinaire Marvin “Smitty” Smith (Dave Holland, Steve Coleman, Tonight Show with Jay Leno band), the two meld their off-the-charts jazz virtuosity with ferocious rock and funk energy. They also pool their resources as composers, populating Recreational Substance with five incisive tunes by Synowiec and three by Noy.
Fresh from a momentous collaboration with studio drum legend John “JR” Robinson and organist Mitch Towne in the acclaimed touring super-trio SRT, Synowiec released FUN in 2023 (following up his 2016 acoustic ambient EP Swim in the Sea and his rollicking 2019 full-band album Second Story). Since moving to Los Angeles in 2004, he has become one of the industry’s top session guitarists. His high-profile soundtrack work includes Frozen, The Walking Dead, Cobra Kai and more. He has also played for Robbie Robertson, Alanis Morissette, The Who, Meghan Trainor, Seal, Barbra Streisand and countless others.
Oz Noy is one of today’s most sought-after, distinctive and fiery guitarists, releasing the albums Triple Play (with Jimmy Haslip and Dennis Chambers), Snapdragon, Booga Looga Loo and others stretching back to the early ’00s. His endless versatility, bracing chops and refined musical instincts have earned him work with the likes of Gavin DeGraw, Idina Menzel, Richard Bona, Allen Toussaint, John Medeski and Joe Bonamassa.
“I thought it’d be great to make it just a full-on supergroup with Oz and myself,” Synowiec says. “I was always a fan of those two-guitar records, like Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires and The Sound of Summer Running or Scofield and Metheny’s I Can See Your House from Here.” Comparatively, Recreational Substance is more distortion-heavy, unabashedly rock- and funk-influenced, full of intricacies in harmony and structure, from Synowiec’s surging opener “Big City” and the fast, clipped beat of Noy’s “I Don’t Know Why” to the crisp, clean tones of “Half Romantic” and the mellow minor-key rock feel of “The Royal You.”
One track, “Brothers,” is a gorgeous acoustic detour, with Synowiec (the composer) on nylon-string for the melody and Noy on acoustic 12-string tuned not in octaves/unisons but in fourths and fifths. “I Don’t Know Why” and “Half Romantic,” which can be heard on OZ Live (2006), are two pieces that Noy had intentions of revisiting, until Recreational Substance provided just the right opportunity. His closing “101 Blues” is ultra-slow, low-down dirty, at times recalling the late Stevie Ray Vaughan in soul-blues ballad mode.
“As a sideman and a working guitar player,” says Synowiec, “you tend to approach every situation from a standpoint of, ‘How can I fit in here?’ It’s the same with this project. So maybe if Oz goes left, I’ll go right. If he zigs I’ll try and zag.” In the end, says Noy, “I just try to make music. And I like the fact that somebody is kicking my butt, or maybe coming up with a sound I wish I had. You learn from each other and get inspired.”
Synowiec and Noy have a similar trajectory as jazz fiends, all-around session musicians and passionate fans of rock, funk and blues—all music tailor-made for their instrument. Screaming leads, crisp rhythm parts, pure melodic tones and textures, angular post-bebop lines and language flying full speed: Recreational Substance presents two players at the top of their game, amplifying one another.
Oz Noy website
Andrew Synowiec website
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