“Steely Dan will be on tour shortly. All exceptionally good musicians.”
Steely Dan was mostly recorded with hi-tech of the day, in studios.
Hence the jazz/rock fusion which was relatively but not totally new. Santana did it, too.
And session musicians. Fagen's material (Nightfly, Kamakiriad) too. I'm "good" through Two Against Nature. Later than than feels repetetive, but I haven't given it a fair listen. Stuck in the past.