(Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Progressive Jazz) [WEB] Oz Noy (ft. John Medeski, Chick Corea, Will Lee, Dave Weckl, Eric Johnson, Lew Soloff a.o.) - Twisted Blues Volume 2 - 2014, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Blues is the root, the foundation – the undercurrent churning beneath nearly all strains of popular music. “It’s a vocabulary you have to have in order to play really anything,” explains guitarist and composer Oz Noy. “If you don’t understand the blues, I just don’t think that what you’re playing will sound as good.” By tapping into that elusive blues feeling and exploring its potential to inform and enrich a variety of musical settings, Noy has emerged as a compelling new voice in a crowded field. The resulting music is simultaneously refreshingly inventive and grounded in a deep, soulful tradition.
“I’m a jazz player,” says Noy, “but with a blues, rock, and R&B background. To me, blues and bebop are the glue to good music.” Noy’s latest album, Twisted Blues Volume 2 (Abstract Logix), continues to mine the blues-tinted vain first tapped in the widely acclaimed first volume, which was released in 2011. While some of the same players from volume one are back on board, these entirely new sessions also introduce an array of special guests, some off-kilter yet undeniably funky rhythmic concepts, and the sort of fiercely unguarded, daring improvisational maneuvers that Noy’s growing following have come to expect.
<p>To realize his expansive vision of a blues-based music that still embodies the power of rock and the exploratory zeal of jazz, Noy has called upon an impressive roster of supporting musicians and fellow soloists. Featured rhythm section players include hard-grooving bassist Will Lee (of Late Show with David Letterman fame), drummer Chris Layton (of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble), master contemporary jazz drummers Dave Weckl and Keith Carlock, and veteran blues-rock bassist Roscoe Beck. Reese Wynans, another Double Trouble alum, shares organ duties with jazz maverick John Medeski and New York-based funk musician Jerry Z.
In addition to these players, Noy cedes the spotlight to several legendary artists, each of whom thrive in Noy’s signature hybrid style. The unmistakeable touch and tone of Texas guitar icon Eric Johnson elevates the elegant, horn-flecked 5/4 swagger of “EJ’s Blues.” Allen Toussaint, one of the architects of classic New Orleans soul, contributes his trademark rippling piano to the aptly named “Slow Grease,” while Warren Haynes (of Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers) goes toe to toe with Noy on the surging shuffle of “Blue Ball Blues.” “Rhumba Tumba” is based on a languid Caribbean-via-Crescent City groove, and features a performance by Chick Corea on Rhodes that is as notable for its surprising rhythmic background figures as for its exquisite solo statement.
As a producer, Noy gives Twisted Blues Volume 2 coherence and depth, ensuring that the varied personnel involved add color and resonance without detracting from his core concept. “I chose all the guest stars carefully,” he explains, “to fit the songs and put their personal touch on the songs. People like Allen Toussaint and Chick Corea have a magical vibe, and once they’ve played on a song, it adds a whole new dimension to it.”
The universal yet infinitely malleable feeling of the blues provided instant common ground amongst the musicians. And Noy puts his own distinct stamp on the proceedings both via his searing fretwork and his deft touch as a composer. His tunes, while immediately accessible and listenable, also offer uniquely personal quirks and prove to be dynamic springboards for improvisation.
Noy honed his playing in a variety of settings, beginning in his early teenage years with jazz, blues, pop, and rock outfits in his native Israel. Equally enthralled by musicians like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Bud Powell, and Charlie Parker, his precocious talent meant that, by the time he was barely 16 years old, he was performing alongside some of the country’s finest singers and musicians. In his twenties he was firmly established among Israel’s top session guitarists, and for over two years was seen nationally as a member of the house band on the most-watched Israeli television.
Oz was recognized by Guitar Player magazine’s annual readers’ poll as “Best New Talent” (2008) and “Best Out There Guitar Player” (2013).
Available May 20, 2014, Twisted Blues Volume 2 is Noy’s sixth album and his second for the Abstract Logix imprint. It’s sterling testament to his continued growth as a musician and composer, while affirming his ongoing commitment to clarity, groove, and grit of the blues. “I don't like complicated music,” he concludes with a smile. “People mistakingly think my music is more difficult then it really is because there are some twists and turns in my writing. But in reality, the improvisation is always on straight R&B or blues grooves. The challenge is to get your own voice into it.”

Two and a half years on from Twisted Blues Volume 1, guitar ace Oz Noy returns with another incendiary serving of jazz-inflected blues. In the intervening period Noy has hardly been idle, releasing a couple of instructional DVDs and touring regularly but his return to the recording studio with his blues bag is certainly welcome. As on Twisted Blues Vol 1, Noy surrounds himself with numerous collaborators—seventeen in total—and no two songs feature the same line-up. Though recorded two years after Volume 1, many of the same musicians are on call here, bringing a large chunk of stylistic continuity to the two CDs.
If the CDs' titles are a nod to Wes Montgomery, Noy's blues is as much inspired by Albert King, BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. "You Dig," however—featuring Greg Leisz on lap steel guitar—veers between John Scofield-inspired jazz-funk and an infectious burst of ZZ Top-flavored riffing. Scofield's shadow looms large elsewhere, notably on "Rhumba Tumba," with a Rhodes cameo by Chick Corea, on the smoldering "EJ's Blues," with a lovely intervention from Eric Johnson and on the Eddie Harris tune "Freedom Jazz Dance," where Noy, John Medeski, Keith Carlock and Will Lee get their funk groove on.
The incomparable Gregoire Maret's free-wheeling solo steals the thunder on Stevie Wonder's "Come Let Me Make Your Love Come Down," with Noy reprising Stevie Ray Vaughan's role with some heavy Texas blues riffing. Noy's satisfyingly gutsy instrumental version hints at where Wonder might have taken the song were it not for the smooth, over-production that was de rigueur in the 1980s. Vaughan's DNA—by way of BB King—also colors the up-tempo "Blue Ball Blues," with Warren Haynes and Roscoe Beck keep the rhythm boiling alongside Reece Wynans' insistent ska motif.
The slow waltzing "Come Dance With Me"—co-written with Giulio Carmassi—features the sort of emotionally-charged, shimmering guitar playing that was a feature of Noy's collaborative project with Jay Anderson, Adam Nussbaum and Seamus Blake on the outstanding As You Like (Jazz Eyes, 2011). "Get Down" pitches Carlock, Lee, Medeski and Noy together in a straight-ahead funk workout redolent of The Meters, with Noy's patiently constructed solo tender and zesty in turn. The rockier "Just Groove Me" does just that, with Dave Weckl, Lee and Wynans plying a deep groove as Noy lets loose his fieriest fretwork. "Slow Grease" is a delightfully unhurried blues featuring the jangling R&B lines of New Orleans piano legend Allen Toussaint and another smoking Noy solo for good measure.
The blues is as much an inherent party of Noy's make-up as jazz. The playing here is absolutely first rate throughout with some stellar moments, though at times the music is a little too generic and derivative to truly stand out. You feel, however, that Noy has at least Volume 3 in him, and perhaps a more twisted, modern blues at that. (Ian Patterson)