Jazz for aficionados

****Not sure why one would ever be inclined to hate****(Fagen)

Alex, I have been a fan of Steely Dan since college days forty (!) years ago and still have all their lp’s. I am more mixed about Fagen’s solo efforts which go even further into that slick, "urban-hip" sensibility and, as such, I have always had a love-hate relationship with his solo efforts. Notice I said that "sometimes" I hate "Sunken Condos" it is like my feeling about "The Nightfly". Sometimes I think that "The Nightfly" is a masterpiece. "Kamakiriad" leaves me absolutely cold. This is not the first time that I been asked why I feel this way and the best way I can describe why I feel this way is found in an article about an interview with Fagen that I saved a while back. The author does a fantastic job of putting into words Fagen’s personality and demeanor.

From the interview:

"When he speaks, he seems so contemptuous at his need to communicate to the outside world "

What he describes is precisely the feeling that some of his music projects for me in spite of its many excellent qualities. This is an interesting example of the subjective/objective dilemma. From an objective standpoint it is, within that genre, compositionally great, the production values are state of the art and the playing is fantastic and "perfect". Subjectively, I am not always in the mood for
its personality. Interesting reading for SD fans:

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/114035/shanah-tova-from-donald-fagen

"Aja"’s title cut features the great Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone. In 1985 Shorter released "Atlantis",  what I think is, after Herbie Hancock’s "Headhunters", my favorite fusion recording. Very interesting compositions with a compositional depth not always found in the genre and great playing:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z3qXILIfPuw

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uyhXnCN5Tic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bYjfHviuOGM

My last post was directed at Ghosthouse; sorry, Alex.

Hello Frogman - I did realize for whom your comments were intended. Appreciate you taking the time to explain. I asked strictly out of curiosity. Fagen is a case study in "supercilious" - though that hasn’t diminished my own enjoyment of his music. To my mind, that attitude has been something of a Steely Dan trademark, so not limited to Fagen alone.  I do appreciate how an emotional response to the artist (or lack thereof) independent of any artistic-merit considerations can affect "receptivity". I encourage your view of The Nightfly as a "masterpiece", however. FWIW - Michael Jackson would be good corollary in my own little universe. Thanks for the tip on Wayne Shorter’s "Atlantis". I note we are contemporaries given college being some 40 years in the past.

To Rok - I doubt "fusion" is free at Madame Dupree’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voTU8qUeFKo

Cheers

Fabulous!  Definitely whore-house material....as if I knew...not!    Great chart and great feel.  Fabulous plunger solo on trumpet.  Once again, don't know where the "no more good new jazz" crowd is coming from.  Dee Dee sounds great and I never heard heard such an obvious Biily Holiday influence and even a bit of Leon Thomas type "yodeling" thrown in.  Good stuff!  All this talk about ladies of the night made me think of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVo5mjK4eg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLO2wh9neLtRY6HqOq7kozUzaTKc1t4TRm&v=rctESG7Ht84

Ghosthouse, I agree with your comments re SD but I do think that Fagen's solo projects go even deeper into the sensibility that I am trying to describe and somewhat away from the R&R sensibility that, even with all the Jazz and other "inform"ation, was still at the heart of SD's music (Becker?).  My reaction is just a personal one and, to be clear, it has nothing to do with any knowledge of Fagen's personality as described in that interview; the vibe of his personality seems more obvious in the music of his solo projects, as expected.  Not sure about the MJ reference.  I get it in broad terms, but for me MJ is not in the gategory of great musicians so comparison to someone like DF seems a bit strained and, for me, different "rules" apply to MJ.  MJ was a fabulous entertainer in a genre unapolagetically "pop" and whose final product depended on the producer's (Quincy Jones) hand to a great extent; not the case with DF.