Steely Dan

mrgd wrote: Thanks Dick. Looked him up on Drummerworld. His work with Wayne Krantz is featured and apart from working with perhaps lesser known jazz/fusion artists [ Richard Bona, Bernard Wright, Jimi Tunnell and many ors.] he has very varied experience. From the likes of Bette Midler, Paula Abdul and even Harry Belafonte to Sting, Grover Washington, Chris Botti and Will Lee. He was also in The Blues Brothers Band including the movie band. Obviously a versatile player. From memory, he does most of the drumming on 'Morph the Cat' as well. Also on the 'Two Against Nature' album [not the DVD]. I hadn't realised that.

Well, I've recently returned from Brisbane where I saw the Brisbane concert of their Heavy Rollers 2007 Tour and it was amazing.

As they are not in PA I guess I cannot include a review under the Live Performance Review topic, so I'll make some observations here for anyone who is interested.

First up, I really enjoy their Two Against Nature DVD which, because it was recorded around the release time of that album, not surprisingly featured a good deal of that recent material with only a smaller selection of their earlier work. However, when Donald described themselves as jazz/ rock survivors of the 70s, it gave an indication of what was to come.

The set list included arrangements of Do It Again, Bodhisattva and the all female vocal rendition of Dirty Work which was a nice way of featuring the great female backing vocalists.

Other songs not featured on the DVD were Haitian Divorce , Hey 19 , Time Out of Mind , Two Against Nature but here's the thing - in addition to Peg and Josie [ which are on the DVD], they also did Black Cow , Aja and Home At Last . That is, the majority of the amazing Aja album. These were absolute highlights imo. and gave the extraordinary band the opportunity to display it's none-too- shabby jazz credentials. A nice touch also was the band, minus Donald ,Walter and the girls, playing a Jazz instrumental overture and also an end piece after the encore.

[Other songs that are on the DVD and not mentioned above were Black Friday, Green Earings and Kid Charlemagne].

The band was sensational [get onto their web site Heavy Rollers Tour header to see the full complement]. The whole brass section was a delight with Walt Weiskopf on tenor leading the way, particularly during the challenging Aja solos with the drums. Jim Pugh just embraces the trombone with his incredibly smooth an soothing tones. John Herrington on guitar handled the Bodhisattva solos admirably and the definitve Kid Charlemagne solo extremely well [ described by Steve Kahn as his best solo recorded as I read some time ago]. Jeff Young on keys was allowed to infuse some Hammond sounds and solos which was a little different to the recordings.

However, the stand outs were 'Ready' Freddie Washington on bass and the extraordinary Keith Carlock on drums . What a rhythm section! ! Freddie was given free reign to funk up the bass sound more than on the recordings, displaying his great slapping tehnique and chops, particularly during Peg and the encore version of Kid Charlemagne - but it was used quite sparingly in the main. Their respective solo spots during the band intros. were absolute highlights.

I should also say that when I read that Ricky Lawson wasn't touring [ he was on the DVD], I wondered if I would be disappointed with the drumming . That Keith Carlock was featured so often in the spotlight of the well co-ordinated lighting plots, is a testament to the obvious respect the band has for him, particularly D and W. What a gun ! He made the challenging Aja soloing his own, so memorably handled by Steve Gadd on the album. He's solo in the extended version of Do It Again was just another of a number of featured drumming highlights.

Finally a word about Donald's voice. Unlike so many of his vintage, his voice has held up remarkably well . Never once did I find myself thinking that he's struggling to get the note . He and Walter were both very relaxed and not obviously 'anal' as their critics have often accused. They really enjoyed themselves and it came across to the audience that way .

An unforgettable musical experience for this true admirer.

[ P.S. And Dick, if you read this, I now know something about Keith Carlock. He's brilliant]

I would appreciate feedback from anyone interested or who has also been lucky enough to see them in concert this time.

Edited by mrgd - September 18 2007 at 04:08

I've been a Dan Fan for decades. Katy Lied is indeed a great album as are Aja,  The Royal Scam, and Countdown to Ecstasy. Saw them live back in 1993, and it was an unforgettable concert.

cymbaline777 wrote: Steely Dan definitely belongs on the sight, the quality of production and musicianship on their albums warrants it. There are already quite a few bands that are a lot less "progressive" then Steely Dan on this site, so why not?

you know... to be honest.....  they are, and if we judged SOLELY upon the music they would, they could be a textbook example of Crossover Prog....but like some other bands... they are too well known to be fairly judged on just their work alone.  They have several strikes against them.... they are american and not european... STRIKE 1...   they were active in the 70's and not generally associated with prog..or even with Art Rock.... STRIKE 2...   have several prominent fans and supporter here who don't want to push this for appearing to be fanboys..  STRIKE 3...

the music itself out-progs prog in many aspects... the lyrical artiness trumps some of the sophomoric or just plain nebulous matter of some other groups..  Want some virtuosos?   Steely Dan were the best band money could buy... 

anyhow...   just do what I do..and enjoy the HELL out of the albums.. whether they are here or not.


Edited by micky - September 21 2007 at 19:42