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Steely Dan Harmony / Theory / Composition
For the Dan fans on the forum (is anyone not?), I’ve come across a few fascinating YT videos that analyze the harmony and theory used in a number of their compositions. Little wonder that their work is as musically engaging today as it was in the 70’s…
More from Danny Kuperberg…
And this one focused on the album, Aja…
https://www.youtube.com/live/ITCrFGABVzg?si=-CTBl7CIo5iMPpBI
Finally, this book on Aja, generously informed by Fagen himself, is a great read for the enthusiast…
Comments
Not sure whether that second link came through so here it is again along with the others in the playlist...
Aja is for sure in my top 5 alltime, had no idea there was a book. Neat thanks!
A "pop music" group with the chops of some of the best jazz musicians who've ever put their work into recordings. "Aja" is easily one of the all-time best.
Love dem 💯
Speaking of chops, here’s a beat I made many years ago sampling Steely Dan, interesting enough, CL Smooth from the legendary hip hop duo, Pete Rock and CL Smooth gave me props for it years ago on my MySpace Music Profile:
Well now you can add the mighty @oscillotus to the list of people giving you props for it 🙌🏻 Jokes aside, it's very cool! Could easily fit on one of those classic boom bap albums!
Thank you so much!
I’ve listened to Aja more than any other record.
Me too, although Royal Scam is a fav too… some gems on there: Kid Charlemagne and Haitian Divorce (I play this on repeat 🔥)
Love it all, my favorite Steely Dan song is actually Gaucho but Aja is my go to driving choice since forever
Boring story but when I was a tech for a studio rentals company in NYC early 2000’s I would sometimes have a run to CT and deliver gear to their studio. One time I encountered Donald F sitting in the control room when I was told to drop the gear in there (mic or extra pre’s etc…) He gave a small expressionless nod and motioned where he wanted me to set it down. I had to be around artists all the time but that one was so intense for me!
Very cool, indeed!
I enjoyed watching these 4 videos quite a bit:
https://www.youtube.com/@hoodooskidoo
And let's not forget good education
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sYsdtHqvliU
The other band of that era that brought jazz harmony into pop music in a big way was Earth, Wind, and Fire. I would also add in the Pat Metheny Group, but some people will not accept that as pop music, even though they inspired an entire radio format ("The Wave").
Wow, very cool!!! He seems very particular
Thank you! 🙏
Love EWF 😍
Pat Metheny Group’s music is magical
Such a beautiful song. Reminds me of mom, who recently passed away 🙏
Sorry about mom.
Thank you 🙏 much appreciated.
Wow, this is amazing
Huge steely dan fan here, i will def be checking these out
Indeed I’ve never heard this…huge LM and SD fan here, great thread, thanks for sharing ❤️
Steely Dan was always just as much about being subversive as being artistic. Underneath the smooth, silky, shiny surface of those wonderfully crafted and polished songs, is a sharp and acidic wit. You could argue that there's too much perfection in their recordings, but that would be missing the point. They're pulling you in with an amazing hook or groove, or harmonic invention, and making it sound like everything is wonderful and amazing, but at the same time they're throwing daggers at society or making dark inside jokes about themselves and the characters they've encountered. They fooled you from the start - I didn't even know where the name came from until years later. That combination of biting commentary with dazzling artistry is something no one else could pull off, and I believe part of the reason they remain beloved by many.
There's a great video on YouTube where Fagen talks about his harmonic ideas for some of their songs incuding Peg, and it really opened my eyes to some new stuff - I think it was called Jazz Concepts with Donald Fagen originally, but you can find parts of it by searching for "Donald Fagen discusses and plays the Steely Dan hit Peg with Warren Bernhardt" or some combination thereof.
Well said 🔥
More fodder for you hungry Dan fans…
Donald Fagen on how they composed Peg (parts 1 & 2) referenced by @EdZAB:
Becker, Fagen, and the studio cats who recorded Peg (watch this before the next one, pretty funny):
And here’s Jay Gaydon showing us how he came up with that great solo:
😍 thank you!
You can also check it out here:
https://archive.org/details/donald-fagen-concepts-for-jazz-rock-piano-dvd
Thanks for this @royor. I had watched it some years ago but did so again last night, appreciating more than ever what makes Fagen’s work so unique, durable, and infectious.