New from Oz Noy and Andrew Synowiec is a guitar team-up highlighting hot licks, high energy, and strong songwriting. The album is Recreational Substance, and post-bop note density is the crux of the biscuit. The two virtuosos run the gamut with a variety of grooves and textures, but both say good songs are the name of the game.
Recreational Substance is reminiscent of jazz-duo records of the past. Why did you decide to make this together?
Andrew Synowiec: I’ve always been a fan of those albums and wanted to do something like this. Oz and I had a gig on the books, so I said, “Hey, let’s make a record out of it.” We had a good yin and yang thing going, so we fit together pretty well.
You guys contributed songs equally, but how was the recording process?
AS: We recorded at Big City Studios, which is why I named the first tune “Big City.” We did a gig to road-test the songs because you learn so much by playing the material live and it taught us everything we needed to learn. A lot of it went without saying.
Oz Noy: The gig went really well, so I was like, “Hey, this is cool. Let’s try to do this regularly.” Andrew was like, “Hey, how about we record something?” I was like, “Sure!” The only thing was I didn’t have any extra tunes, so I brought in a couple that could work. Andrew brought the rest, and it worked. We knew that we played well together. That part was easy.
There’s lots of chemistry on the record. The acoustic track “Brothers” really stands out.
AS: I’m really proud of the way that turned out. That song fell out of the sky right around the time this project was coming up. I thought it would offer a good counterbalance to what I knew would be a lot of the more-fiery stuff you might expect from us.
Did you record “Brothers” facing each other?
AS: We were looking at each other with baffles between us, so there was a lot of bleed, which was a good thing. I played a nylon-string on that.
ON: I used an acoustic 12-string, but I used a tuning that’s kind of weird – it’s in fourths and fifths. You can hear it when I play chords; they’re not ordinary.
Oz, what’s that rugged B3 sound on the main riff to “I Don’t Know Why?”
ON: I used a Univibe on that. Any effect that you can make go fast will sound like a Leslie, and you also need a little gain to drive it a bit so it sounds more-realistic. I played that through my Two-Rock TS1 head.
Andrew, what was your setup for “The Royal You?”
AS: I was going for an ’80s Miles Davis thing, and in the mixing process we treated the drums to sound retro. I used my Rivera Knucklehead Tre head going into a Tone Tubby H-Bomb 2×12 cab. I used two electric guitars – a Les Paul-style and my B.A. Ferguson, which is like a Les Paul but with a slightly shorter scale. It feels, in the best way, like a toy guitar. It’s really fun to play. I went back and forth between the two.
You guys really locked in with drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith and bassist Hadrien Feraud.
AS: Those guys are ridiculous. Marvin is one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever played with.
What’s next for the dynamic Duo?
ON: World domination (laughs)! We have a couple of dates on the West Coast and the East Coast, so we’ll be playing L.A. and New York.
What do you guys have going on separately?
AS: The studio thing is always cooking, knock-on-wood, and I’m playing my own music as much as I can.
ON: I just finished a bunch of tours. I’m releasing a jazz-quartet album that I recorded for Criss Cross Records. I’m playing standards.
Any chance there’s a follow-up album?
ON: Sure, why not? If we have the material. – Oscar Jordan
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
