By Melissa Ruggieri Times-Dispatch Staff Writer RICHMOND, Va. — At his best, Donald Fagen is a peculiar curmudgeon, a sort of mad scientist mixing up elements of jazz, funk and pop and somehow making them stick. That Fagen, the one so prominent on his first two solo albums, 1982’s The Nightfly and 1993’s Kamakiriad, is the kind […]
Fagen relaxes his grip
By Thomas Conner Chicago Sun-Times The fastidiousness of Donald Fagen is well-documented among his band’s considerable contributions to rock ‘n’ roll. In the studio for Steely Dan records, six-hour sessions were common just to polish 12 bars of rhythm guitar. Noted session musicians would be brought in at great expense to play jazzlike guitar and […]
Donald Fagen on His New Album
After Steely Dan closed up shop in the early 1980s, Donald Fagen went solo with The Nightfly, an album which became an instant and timeless classic. Now a mere 24 years later he has finished his semi-autobiographical trilogy with the release of Morph The Cat. By Andy Gill The Independent NEW YORK — In the […]
Steely Dan: Our 15 Favorite Songs
Originally published on March 18, 2006 By Chris Willman Entertainment Weekly Steely Dan is one of the greatest bands in rock history… and one of the least influential, judging from the complete lack of literarily inclined, wildly sardonic jazz-bo masterminds that have followed. But it’s not such a terrible tragedy that they remain a genre unto […]
Donald Fagen Band at the Chicago Theatre
By Paul Olson AllAboutJazz.com CHICAGO — Steely Dan founder/vocalist Donald Fagen’s concert at the storied Chicago Theatre wasn’t exactly the sound of surprise — this isn’t a jamband he’s fronting and anyone who came expecting loose, improvisational flights of fancy was destined to be disappointed. But the full house knew pretty much exactly what to […]
Storyteller Finds Comfort Onstage
By Doug Pullen Flint Journal DETROIT – Funny thing about Donald Fagen. Used to be he never wanted to tour with Steely Dan, which was more of a songwriting and studio partnership than a living, breathing, touring band. They made some of the greatest records of the pop era, but didn’t hit the road for […]
Catdown to Ecstasy
Steely Dan’s unfashionable co-founder catches a New York where things changed forever By James Hunter Village Voice Morph the Cat Reprise Donald Fagen’s new album, the Steely Dan co-founder’s first since 1993’s Kamakiriad, is a funky suite devoted to post–9-11 conundrums. His song cycle is framed by “Morph the Cat,” a lazy-gaited pop-jazz groove that […]
Donald Fagen – Morph the Cat
Originally published in March, 2006. By Mike Chadwick Jazzfm “Eagerly anticipated,” bellows the press release about this the new album from Donald Fagen. OK, as a long suffering Steely Dan/Donald Fagen fan I must be grateful for this recent bout of creativity. I mean, two Steely Dan albums and a Donald Fagen solo album in […]
Fans Welcome ‘Steely Don’
By Vit Wagner Toronto Star TORONTO — You can take Walter Becker out of Steely Dan. But you can never take Steely Dan out of Donald Fagen. While Fagen, the 58-year-old singer-keyboard player for the 1970s jazz-pop pioneers, performed a nearly sold-out set last night minus his other half, guitarist Becker, the effect was more […]
