Steely Dan - Aja (1977) (vinyl Lp) - €15,00

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Aja, pronounced "Asia") is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released on September 23, 1977, by ABC Records. 

For the album, band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements. 

As with all of the band's previous albums, it was produced by Gary Katz.

The album was produced by Steely Dan's longtime producer Gary Katz, engineered by longtime master engineers Roger Nichols and Bill Schnee and features contributions from numerous leading session musicians. 

The eight-minute-long title track features a jazz-based chord progression, a solo by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and a notable drum performance by Steve Gadd. Co-composer and co-band leader Walter Becker did not perform on the tracks "Black Cow" or "Peg". 

Steely Dan hadn't been a real working band since Pretzel Logic, but with Aja, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's obsession with sonic detail and fascination with composition reached new heights. 

A coolly textured and immaculately produced collection of sophisticated jazz-rock, Aja has none of the overt cynicism or self-consciously challenging music that distinguished previous Steely Dan records. 

Instead, it's a measured and textured album, filled with subtle melodies and accomplished, jazzy solos that blend easily into the lush instrumental backdrops. But Aja isn't just about texture, since Becker and Fagen's songs are their most complex and musically rich set of songs -- even the simplest song, the sunny pop of "Peg," has layers of jazzy vocal harmonies. 

In fact, Steely Dan ignores rock on Aja, preferring to fuse cool jazz, blues, and pop together in a seamless, seductive fashion. 

It's complex music delivered with ease, and although the duo's preoccupation with clean sound and self-consciously sophisticated arrangements would eventually lead to a dead end, Aja is a shining example of jazz-rock at its finest.

Side one

1.  Black Cow - 5:07  

2.  Aja - 7:56  

3.  Deacon Blues - 7:26  

Side two

1.  Peg - 3:58  

2.  Home At Last - 5:31  

3.  I Got The News - 5:03  

4.  Josie - 4:30 

"Black Cow" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizer

• Paul Humphrey – drums

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Victor Feldman – Rhodes piano

• Joe Sample – clavinet

• Larry Carlton – guitar

• Tom Scott – tenor saxophone

• Clydie King, Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews, Rebecca Louis – backing vocals

"Aja" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizer, police whistle, backing vocals

• Steve Gadd – drums

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Larry Carlton, Walter Becker, Denny Dias – guitars

• Joe Sample – Rhodes piano

• Michael Omartian – piano

• Victor Feldman – percussion, marimba

• Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone

• Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals

"Deacon Blues" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizer

• Bernard Purdie – drums

• Walter Becker – bass guitar

• Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour – guitars

• Victor Feldman – Rhodes piano

• Pete Christlieb – tenor saxophone

• Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields – backing vocals

• Dean Parks – acoustic guitar

"Peg" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals

• Rick Marotta – drums

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Paul Griffin – Rhodes piano, backing vocals

• Don Grolnick – clavinet

• Steve Khan – guitar

• Jay Graydon – guitar solo

• Victor Feldman, Gary Coleman – percussion

• Tom Scott – Lyricon

• Michael McDonald – backing vocals

"Home at Last" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizer (solo), backing vocals

• Bernard Purdie – drums

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Larry Carlton – guitar

• Walter Becker – guitar solo

• Victor Feldman – piano, vibraphone

• Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals

"I Got the News" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizers

• Ed Greene – drums

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Victor Feldman – piano, vibraphone, percussion

• Dean Parks – guitar

• Walter Becker, Larry Carlton – guitar solos

• Michael McDonald, Clydie King, Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews, Rebecca Louis – backing vocals

"Josie" 

• Donald Fagen – lead vocals, synthesizers, backing vocals

• Jim Keltner – drums, percussion

• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar

• Victor Feldman – Rhodes piano

• Larry Carlton, Dean Parks – guitars

• Walter Becker – guitar solo

• Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – ABC Records, Inc.
• Copyright © – ABC Records, Inc.
• Distributed By – Ariola
• Printed By – Mohndruck Reinhard Mohn OHG
• Mastered At – A&M Studios
• Pressed By – Sonopress
• Published By – ABC/Dunhill Music, Inc.
• Recorded At – The Village Recorder
• Recorded At – Producers Workshop
• Recorded At – Warner Bros. Recording Studios
• Recorded At – ABC Recording Studios
• Recorded At – Sound Labs, Hollywood
• Recorded At – A&R Studios

Credits

• Arranged By [Horns], Conductor – Tom Scott
• Arranged By [Rhythm Charts Prepared] – Dean Parks, Larry Carlton, Michael Omartian
• Art Direction – OZ Studios
• Brass – Chuck Findley, Slyde Hyde, Lou McCreary
• Consultant [Sound Consultant] – Stuart Dawson
• Coordinator [Production] – Barbara Miller
• Crew [Covert Operations] – Karen Stanley
• Design – Geoff Westen, Patricia Mitsui
• Engineer – Al Schmitt, Bill Schnee, Elliot Scheiner, Roger Nichols
• Engineer [Assistant] – Ed Rack, Joe Bellamy, Ken Klinger, Lenise Bent, Linda Tyler, Ron Pangaliman
• Engineer [Executive] – Roger Nichols
• Lead Vocals – Donald Fagen
• Liner Notes – Michael Phalen, Steve Diener
• Management [Bagman] – Leonard Freedman
• Management [Protetction] – Irving Azoff
• Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
• Music By, Words By – Donald Fagen, Walter Becker
• Other [Hemiolas, Hockets, Maneries of Garlandia, etc.] – Andrew Frank
• Photography By [Cover] – Hideki Fujii
• Photography By [Inside] – Dorothy White, Walter Becker
• Producer – Gary Katz
• Saxophone, Flute – Bill Perkins, Jackie Kelso, Jim Horn, Pete Christlieb, Plas Johnson, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter

Notes

Release: 1977

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Jazz Rock, Yacht Rock

Label:  ABC Records

Catalog#  25046 XOT

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)  Gatefold

Prijs: €15,00