Posted on 03/06/2023 12:28:56 PM PST by nickcarraway
It was a jazz nerd’s dream come true: legendary Miles Davis and Weather Report saxophonist Wayne Shorter was coming into the studio to record on a song. Even better, it was a song that you wrote. Most rock musicians probably wouldn’t have known Shorter from a hole in the wall in 1977, but Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were no average rock musicians, and Steely Dan were no average rock band.
Raised as jazz snobs on the east coast of the United States, Becker and Fagen had worked hard to push Steely Dan beyond their initial 1970s soft rock sound. By ditching most of the musicians from the band’s original lineup and getting the best session players available, Becker and Fagen began incorporating more complex arrangements into their music. By the time the pair were in the studio creating Aja, Steely Dan had transformed into either rock’s version of a jazz band or jazz’s version of a rock band.
Either way, the band had the proper pedigree to begin reaching out to true-blue jazz musicians. Legendary players like Plas Johnson and Larry Carlton had already contributed to albums like Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied, but Aja would be the apex of Steely Dan’s fusion of rock and jazz. Since they were pioneering their own brand of fusion music, why not ask a fellow pioneer to play some sax on the title track?
While talking with Dick LaPalm, owner of the Village Recorder studio which was one of Steely Dan’s many recording spots at the time, producer Gary Katz came in with a request. “During the session, I was in my office sitting at my desk one day when Gary came up,” LaPalm told writer Marc Myers in 2011. “He said, ‘Dick, are you still tight with Wayne Shorter?’ I told him that I was and that Wayne and I had spoken just a few weeks earlier.”
“Gary said, ‘Well Donald and Walter need a favour. They want Wayne to do the solo on the title track,” LaPalm continued. “‘Will you call him? They’d appreciate it so much.’ I said, ‘Sure, Gary, happy to.’ But on his way out of my office, Gary wheeled around and said, ‘Oh, I guess I had better tell you that Wayne turned us down a couple of days ago.’ Gary told me that Steve Diener, president of ABC Records, Steely Dan’s label, had called him.”
“After Gary left, thought about what he had said and realized that Steve must have called Wayne and proudly said something like, ‘Wayne, will you do an overdub for Steely Dan?’,” LaPalm said. “Now from Wayne’s perspective, that’s like saying Iron Butterfly or the Purple Cabbage. It’s just another odd-named rock group to him, nothing special. Wayne didn’t realize who Steely Dan was and how good Donald and Walter were.”
“So I picked up the phone and called Wayne. I had known him for years and loved his writing and playing. We chatted for a bit, and I said, ‘Listen, are you available to come into the Village Recorder and do an overdub for me this week in Studio A?’ That’s where we recorded all of our top acts,” he added. “Wayne asked me who the group was. I said, ‘I don’t remember. But you’re going to love the music.’ He said, ‘When? I said, ‘You tell me.’ He said, ‘How’s Friday at 1 p.m.?’ I said, ‘Great.'”
“When Wayne arrived at the Village Recorder, I met him before Donald and Walter. Wayne asked if before he got started he could chant. I said, ‘Sure’ and sent him into Studio C. When he was done, he came into Studio A,” LaPalm concluded. “I introduced him around and then walked out. Wayne did his solos—six passes in all. He loved the music, and was gone in 35 minutes. The guys were sitting around watching, stunned. After he left, Donald and Walter spliced together the six passes, and that’s what you hear on the album. Donald and Walter couldn’t thank me enough.”
According to LaPalm’s recollections, Becker and Fagen made sure that they were dressed to impress when Shorter arrived. “Donald was dressed in a starched striped shirt—white with blue stripes—pretty spiffy compared to the T-shirts he customarily wore in the studio,” he claimed. Although he was reticent to work with rock groups, Shorter’s experience with Steely Dan obviously softened his stance as he would later play with everyone from Joni Mitchell to Don Henley and The Rolling Stones. In a significant way, Steely Dan provided the bridge for Shorter to peer into the world of rock music.
Check out Shorter’s solo on ‘Aja’ down below.
Aja is my favorite Steely Dan album......................
ping
Mine, too.
They were one of the groups I always wanted to see live, but never could...................😢
Shorter was also a Vietnam War protester who appeared at events.
About 4:40 into the song - https://youtu.be/CYZwVf07tHA?t=279
Aja is a little soft for my taste unless I’m in the right mood. I prefer Royal Scam, Pretzel Logic etc.
Really hard to pick a favorite they are all so good, and different. I think HULU or Prime have a good video on the making of Aja.
My other #2 fav is “Can’t Buy a Thrill”.............
Oh, I’d LOVE to have been to one of their shows back in the day!
Except it doesn't fade out.
There were very few..............
Never saw them "back in the day" but in the last 10 years I've seen them at SPAC twice, Lennox MA, Foxwoods CT, and maybe one other locale. The only issue is that over that approx. 5-8 year period they pretty much played the same set, but it was very entertaining. Often they'd have some guest guitarists.
They do more touring in the last 20 years, than in the 70s. They stopped touring then in mid 1974.
Back in 2018 they played full album concerts in NYC, Something I just couldn't arrange to see, as it turned out they were probably classics. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steely-dan-plot-full-lp-shows-for-new-york-city-residency-204228/
Unfortunately they were never anywhere near me...............
Cool!
Fagan brings his group to NJ often. Been lucky enough to see them about a dozen times over the years. Always different musicians and vocalists, depending on the show Donald is doing, all of them very talented. However, IMHO - It ain’t the same without Walter.
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