Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly"

[GeddyRulz]

[tangy]

I thinks its the best of his three solo discs. Kamakiriad is pretty good but i rarely listen to Morph The Cat anymore.

 

In typical Dan fashion the studio musicians on nightfly are a a stellar lineup. a musical whos who. per wiki

 

* Donald Fagen - organ, synthesizer, harmonica, horn, keyboards, electric piano, vocals, background vocals, synthesizer harp

* Dave Bargeron - trombone, euphonium, horn, background vocals

* Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone

* Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn

* Larry Carlton - guitar

* Ronnie Cuber - horn, baritone saxophone

* Rick Derringer - guitar

* Frank "Harmonica Frank" Floyd - background vocals

* James Gadson - drums

* Ed Greene - drums

* Gordon Grody - vocals, background vocals

* Anthony Jackson - bass

* Steve Jordan - drums

* Steve Khan - acoustic guitar

* Abraham Laboriel - bass

* Daniel Lazerus - background vocals

* Will Lee - bass

* Hugh McCracken - guitar, harmonica

* Leslie Miller - vocals, background vocals

* Marcus Miller - bass

* Rob Mounsey - synthesizer, horn, keyboards

* Roger Nichols - percussion, special effects

* Michael Omartian - piano, keyboards, electric piano

* Dean Parks - guitar

* Greg Phillinganes - synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer bass

* Jeff Porcaro - drums

* Chuck Rainey - bass

* Zachary Sanders - vocals, background vocals

* Valerie Simpson - vocals, background vocals

* David Tofani - horn, alto saxophone

* Starz Vanderlocket - percussion, background vocals

* Paul Shaffer - organ

 

produced by gary katz this is the most steely dan like solo release by either fagen or becker IMO.

 

Beckers solo discs are worth checking out too.

 

[realomind]

Love The Nightfly, it's great album. I really liked Kamakiriad too but somehow I just couldn't get in to Morph the Cat.

 

"Lou Chang / Her brother he's burning with rage..."

 

 

 

[raptorcox]

I finally bought The Nightfly thru itunes after keeping my eye on it decades upon decades.

 

My favorite track is I.G.Y

[Ted Barchetta]

I will agree with you on this point; I tend to prefer Steely Dan over Fagen solo, but this is as good or better then some of the middle-of-the -road Dan.

[Xanadoood]

Awesome album. Goes well alongside the Dan.

 

[analog guy]

Good album, but the drum sound is thin and stiff. I think they were doing a lot of experiments with quantizing at this point.

 

New Frontier is probably my favorite cut on this album.

[raptorcox]

I heard New Frontier at a restaurant today. Thought about this thread, funny.. life is

[micgtr71]

This album is fantastic, but for sentimental reasons I prefer Kamakiriad. I was doing a lot of driving that year because I was in grad school and doing my student teaching. That summer I went to see Steely Dan at SPAC and heard a few of the tunes from both albums. I still think of that when I hear the music. Never got into Morph the Cat either.

[troutman]

Love it!!

[Ancient Ways]

I love the Dan so I need to check this out. i'll admit that I thought this was Dan for obvious reasons (no one else's voice sounds like that, right?)

[GeddyRulz]

QUOTE (Ancient Ways @ Dec 8 2010, 06:48 PM)

I love the Dan so I need to check this out. i'll admit that I thought this was Dan for obvious reasons (no one else's voice sounds like that, right?)

No, nobody else sounds like Fagen. Unmistakable.

 

I could totally understand somebody thinking a Fagen album was Steely Dan; the voice, the hybrid pop-jazz sound, etc.

 

On the other side of the coin, people might hear "Dirty Work" and NOT think it was the Dan... because "Dirty Work" and a couple other songs from the first album have a vocalist other than Fagen.

[Pags]

One of the greatest albums I own. Period.

 

Not a bad note throughout.

[analog guy]

QUOTE (GeddyRulz @ Dec 9 2010, 03:17 AM)

On the other side of the coin, people might hear "Dirty Work" and NOT think it was the Dan... because "Dirty Work" and a couple other songs from the first album have a vocalist other than Fagen.

I'd play Dirty Work a lot and people would always be puzzled when I told them it was Steely Dan.

 

"What? Who the hell is this guy singing then?"

 

[Ancient Ways]

QUOTE (Pags @ Dec 10 2010, 08:56 PM)

One of the greatest albums I own. Period. Not a bad note throughout.

I got it and listened to it twice today. Wow. Even though I was aware of almost all of the songs I didn't get the full picture until now. This is damn good. Since this was titled perfect album, name some more.