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CRISS CROSS

FUN ONE

$19.99

Details

Artist
NOY, OZ
Format
CD
Label
CRISS CROSS
Released
Dec 27, 2024
Catalog #
CSS1422.2
UPC
8712474142224

About

Some might think that guitarist Oz Noy, a celebrated voice in jazz-fusion over the last quarter century for applying his formidable guitar chops to funky rhythms and blues-based changes on 13 leader albums and hundreds of plugged-in concert performances, is not an obvious fit for Criss Cross, whose 420+-album catalog connects almost exclusively to the various tributaries of the hardcore acoustic jazz river. Noy, 52, begs to differ. "I've known about Criss Cross since my brother brought home albums when I was a teenager, " he says, discussing the back story of his label debut, Fun One, a creative, sophisticated and, shall we say, swinging trio encounter with pianist David Kikoski, bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn. "I know Peter Bernstein's albums and Adam Rogers' albums. I love Mike Moreno's last album. I know how the albums sound. I started to study jazz chords and harmony when I was 13. I started making a living playing pop and rock music when I was 15 or 16, and for all my years in New York I've had an electric trio that plays groove music mixed with jazz and funk that's enabled me to get a record deal and make albums. But I've been playing standards and jazz all my life, and probably since 2017 with this quartet. I've just never recorded it." From 2017 until March 2020, when COVID shut down New York City, the group's encounters transpired on Thursday nights at the 55 Bar, the Greenwich Village basement where high-level practitioners like alto saxophonist-composer (and frequent Criss Cross artist) Dave Binney and guitarists Mike Stern and Wayne Krantz held years-long weekly sinecures. After the Christopher Street landmark shut down two years later, Noy "moved our operation" to the Bitter End on Bleecker Street, a signpost venue in the development of comedy and various streams of second-half-of-the-20th-century popular music where Noy has played regularly with his power trios for more than two decades. From the beginning of 2024 until the end of July, when Noy recorded Fun One, he frequently workshopped this repertoire there "with some form of this band." The Album was recorded July 26 / 27, 2024 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, NYC. Recording engineer Mike Marciano. Sound engineer Mike Marciano also did the mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NYC. Photography by Anna Yatskevich.

Tracklist 9 tracks

  1. 1 Fun One 06:05
    Track
    1
    Title
    Fun One
    Duration
    06:05
    Composer
    Oz Noy
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  2. 2 Solar 05:51
    Track
    2
    Title
    Solar
    Duration
    05:51
    Composer
    Chuck Wayne
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  3. 3 Ruby My Dear 07:07
    Track
    3
    Title
    Ruby My Dear
    Duration
    07:07
    Composer
    Thelonious Monk
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  4. 4 Wee (Allen's Alley) 04:59
    Track
    4
    Title
    Wee (Allen's Alley)
    Duration
    04:59
    Composer
    Denzil Best
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  5. 5 Giant Steps 06:31
    Track
    5
    Title
    Giant Steps
    Duration
    06:31
    Composer
    John Coltrane
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  6. 6 Sandu 09:21
    Track
    6
    Title
    Sandu
    Duration
    09:21
    Composer
    Clifford Brown
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  7. 7 Swingin' the Dream: Darn that Dream 05:33
    Track
    7
    Title
    Swingin' the Dream: Darn that Dream
    Duration
    05:33
    Composer
    Jimmy van Heusen
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  8. 8 Milestones 05:03
    Track
    8
    Title
    Milestones
    Duration
    05:03
    Composer
    John Lewis
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn
  9. 9 Improvisation 1 03:55
    Track
    9
    Title
    Improvisation 1
    Duration
    03:55
    Composer
    Oz Noy
    Performer
    Oz Noy, James Genus, David Kikoski, Clarence Penn