AJA

My oldest son, now 36, grew up in a household in which the music of the Beatles, Yes, Genesis, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and King Crimson "loomed large in the background." As time has passed, he's made me aware of Dream Theater, the Liquid Tension Experiment, Porcupine Tree, Symphony X, and the Claypool/Lennon Delirium. However, it was only recently that I pointedly brought up the subject of Steely Dan. At first, he was surprised when I asserted that Becker, Fagen, and the list of studio musicians who helped "flesh out" the composers' work "belong" with the list of groups that I've mentioned above. The good news is my son, if he'd like, can consider Steely Dan.

This brings us to Aja. Of their nine studio albums, Aja can best be described as the apotheosis of Becker and Fagen's compositional and musical prowess. There are great moments here: In "I Got the News," Michael McDonald's "Broadway Duchess/Darlin,' if you only knew/ half as much as everybody thinks you do"; the almost lugubrious, depressive music and lyrics of "Deacon Blues"'; and the libidinous description of "Josie"?"She prays like a Roman with her eyes on fire."

The title track is the synthesis of Becker and Fagen's power as composers and lyricists. Here we have the following ensemble: Donald Fagen / lead & backing vocals, synthesizer, and whistle; Walter Becker, Larry Carlton, and Denny Dias, guitars; Chuck Rainey / bass; Victor Feldman, percussion/Joe Sample, electric piano/ Michael Omartian, electric piano/Wayne Shorter, saxophone/ Steve Gadd, drums/ and Timothy B. Schmit, backing vocals. The song features almost avant-garde soloing by Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd. Becker, Carlton, and Dias deliver something of a committee of guitar solos. And, when Donald Fagen blows the whistle, it's almost as if he's alerting us to the ongoing, masterful circumstances.

So, let's ascend "the Hill." What happens as Becker/Fagen climb to the top?

People never stare/They just don't care

They've got time to burn/There's no return

They think I'm okay/Or so they say

The first reaction at the "top of the Hill" is indifference. After the first ascent of the Hill, an image of insight is revealed:

Chinese music under banyan trees Here at the dude ranch above the sea

And then the chorus:

Aja When all my dime dancin' is through I run to you

On the second upwards journey, the reaction is endless indolence; insight takes this form:

Double helix in the sky tonight Throw out the hardware Let's do it right

Chorus again.

Third hill top experience: this time the reaction is disingenuous approval, followed by insight--

Chinese music always sets me free Angular banjoes Sound good to me

Repeat chorus.

Sardonicism would be the overall effect of Aja's lyrics. But, there are the three images of insight: Chinese music under banyan trees; Double helix in the sky tonight; Chinese music always sets me free/Angular banjoes/Sound good to me . . . . Banyan trees evoke images of major fig trees in Pakistan and India (I think of Hermann Hesse here). Becker and Fagen know their Watson and Crick. And, what's the difference "tubular bells" or "angular banjoes?" Perhaps "Chinese music" is a way of describing anything transcendent.

I'd like to suggest "Aja" is not so much a person but a discipline. And one way to express this discipline is the great instrumental at the heart of "Aja." Like most of Becker and Fagen's lyrics, they are partially tongue-in-cheek. However, one cannot deny the music of Becker and Fagen contains only intentional exaggerations or irony.