By Eugene Holley, Jr.New Music Box Originally published on Sept. 20, 2017 “We play rock & roll, but we swing when we play. We want that ongoing flow, that lightness, that forward rush of jazz.” – Walter Becker in 1974 The death of Walter Becker—the bespectacled and bearded guitarist, bassist, composer, lyricist, and one-half of the […]
Tag Archives | Jazz-Rock
Jazzin’ the Vibration
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen aka Steely Dan occupy a unique place in “rock” music. While much of their work sounds as though it’s been hauled straight out of the jazz canon, in 32 years they’ve only ever recorded one non-original tune… and that was Duke Ellington’s “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo.” Earlier this year (2000) […]
