Jazz Articles about Donald Fagen

Donald Fagen: An Essential Top 10 Albums

by Peter Jones
October 9, 2022

Actually, the whole notion of a Donald Fagen Top Ten is tricky. Artists like Chet Baker made well over a hundred albums, whereas in half a century Fagen has only released 13 official studio albums, whether with Steely Dan or under his own name, along with a handful of live sets. The process of selecting the best ten is therefore more a matter of not including the few less impressive ones. However Fagen's small recorded output is merely testament to ...

Donald Fagen

by Joseph Vella
October 29, 2021

Donald Fagen On The Past, Present And Future

by Leo Sidran
August 5, 2019

Donald Fagen on what's so punk about Steely Dan, what's so sweet about bebop, why making his first solo record, The Nightfly was so personally disruptive to him, when he decided to finally grow up, and who he never wants to see again. Plus, behind the scenes stories of making Gaucho, his relationship with Walter Becker, the influence of Red Garland on his playing, Billy Eckstine on his singing, and James Brown on his rhythm concept. Along the ...

Donald Fagen and The Nighflyers at Hard Rock Live Cleveland

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 1, 2017

Donald Fagen and The Nightflyers Hard Rock Live at the Rocksino Cleveland, Ohio August 25, 2017 Fans of Steely Dan and Donald Fagen residing in Northeast Ohio have been fortunate over the past decade or more to see their locale be a regular stop on the live tour schedule. In addition to The Dan's regular summer excursions stopping in the Cleveland area, Fagen led a brief stint in 2006 supporting his third solo album, Morph ...

The Nightfly Trilogy

by John Kelman
December 19, 2007

There are those who bemoan the apparent lack of sophistication in contemporary pop music, although there are plenty of examples proving that it's not all about 'dumbing down' for the masses. Steely Dan--the rock group that emerged in the 1970s as a collective but ultimately whittled itself down to its two songwriting components, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen--has demonstrated it's possible to write contemporary songs that have commercial appeal but, at the same time, possess the kind of harmonic depth ...

Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat

by Woodrow Wilkins
July 4, 2006

There's an engaging quality to Donald Fagen's songwriting and perfectionism that makes Steely Dan fans flock to his solo albums. While The Nightfly (1982) and Kamakiriad (1993) were expressly Fagen, Morph the Cat closely resembles Steely Dan without Walter Becker. The lineup partially reflects the ensemble that recorded the Dan's 2003 release, Everything Must Go, and toured with the group that year. The cast includes drummer Keith Carlock, guitarists Hugh McCracken and Jon Herington, and trombonist Lawrence Feldman. An assortment ...

Donald Fagen: Morph the Cat

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 28, 2006

Donald Fagen sta al rock come Duke Ellington stava al jazz. Non sarà per i continui attestati di stima che la mente degli Steely Dan spesso gli tributa, ma l’attitudine nella creazione e nell’arrangiamento, l’eleganza nella scelta timbrica e armonica, la condotta delle parti e la ricerca melodica come filo labile da cucire nella stoffa preziosa della song form, rimandano spesso agli insegnamenti di Ellington. L’altro elemento portante e decisivo è la letterarietà dei testi. A volte criptici, a volte ...