| “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.
Get ready for live dates in support of Recreational Substance in Los Angeles and New York, January and February 2025!! |
