By Michael Fortuna
The Villages Daily Sun
ORLANDO — The fans of Steely Dan gambled, and they won. Big time.
The band, led by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, stopped by Hard Rock Live on May 12 as part of its Heavy Rollers Tour, and a sold-out audience welcomed it with open arms.
The stage didn’t have an elaborate set or special effects, just instruments. But with a group like Steely Dan, it is all about the music.
The backing band — Michael Leonhart on trumpet, Jim Pugh on trombone, Walt Weiskopf on sax, Roger Rosenburg on baritone sax, Jeff Young on keyboards, Jon Herington on electric guitar, Freddie Washington on bass and Keith Carlock on drums — kicked things off with a Vegas-style swing tune.
Then a shades-wearing Fagen on lead vocals and Fender Rhodes piano, Becker on electric guitar and backup singers Cindy Mizelle and Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery appeared on the stage, the audience giving them a standing ovation as the band jumped into “Time Out of Mind.”
Steely Dan delved into its eclectic catalog of rock, jazz and pop during the nearly 90-minute set, from “Janie Runaway” to “Gaslighting Abbie,” “Peg,” “Caves of Altamira,” “Josie” and “Kid Charlemagne.”
It seemed the fans didn’t quite commit songs to memory from the group’s recent album, Two Against Nature. While they let out a big cheer within the first few notes of “Hey Nineteen,” they barely made a noise as Carlock laid down the intricate, odd-time signature rhythm for “Two Against Nature.”
Steely Dan has been known for its attention to sonic detail in the studio, and its live presence was no exception. The 12-piece band kept the songs tight, yet left enough room for solos from, on most occasions, Becker, Weiskopf or Herington.
The audience gave the biggest applause after the band churned through “Aja,” featuring a duel between Weiskopf and Carlock. At times, the mix seemed to drown out Fagen’s piano work, but it is a slight nit to pick.
Fagen did pass off the lead vocals on a couple of occasions — Becker took the vocals on “Monkey on Your Soul” while Mizelle and Leonhart-Escoffery sang the lead for “Dirty Work.”
The Dan returned for an encore that featured “My Old School” and the uptempo jazzy gospel “Bodhisattva.” And, just as the show began, the backing band ended the evening.
Sam Yahel’s trio of organ, guitar and drums warmed up the crowd with a too-short 30-minute set. In one section of the standing-room-only area, people continued chatting through the performance, which was a shame. Yahel created some tight, funky grooves on the Hammond B-3 organ, including a version of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.”
The trio was a perfect fit for the jazzy stylings of the headliner who likes to take their chances with music and come up with winning songs every time.
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