Steely Dan in the 70's

Donald Fagen and Walter Becker Today

As I've mentioned numerous times on here, I am a huge Steely Dan fan going back to my youth.  Two young Jewish boys from New York City put together a band that would change the musical landscape, then and now.

This was their first studio album reunion tour in twenty years at the time in 2000.  They play a tapestry of songs that evoke jazz, soul, blues, pop and rock n roll.  The two are the consummate writers, arrangers, producers and musicians.  The word perfectionists is most often used to describe them. Eccentric also comes to mind if you like.

No one puts a band together better than Fagen and Becker.  Here they are surrounded by many great jazz musicians who can "play you some funked up muzak" as good as any band you'll see.  It was the first DVD ever released by the band and to say I was excited was a vast understatement.  I own the CD and the DVD Concert.

I was lucky enough to see them in concert live in '92 when they got back together for touring only.  "Two Against Nature" won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2000 and proved that they were relevant back then and still relevant today.

I know music posts often don't do well on Open Salon but I urge you to watch some of, if not all of this concert as there is something for everyone.  The horn section is made up of multiple grammy winning musicians in their own right in the late Cornelius Bumpus on tenor saxophone, Chris Potter on alto and tenor sax, Jim Pugh on Trombone and Michael Leonhart on trumpet.

It's always the trumpeter who gets the hot girl!  Michael is married to the beautiful brunette back up singer Carolyn Leonhart (in the middle).  She is joined by the fantastic harmonies of Victoria Cave and Cynthia Calhoun.  The female back-up singer has long been a staple of Steely Dan and these ladies are on fire!

The rest of the band include Ted Baker on piano, Ricky Lawson on drums, Tom Barney and the magnificent Jon Herington on guitar.  I own the DVD and cannot recommend it highly enough.  The songs are in the order of the DVD where available.  I have ommitted a couple for brevity sake and threw in one classic bonus.

Enoy!