"The Steely Dan Band" releasing "Donald Fagen's 'The Nightfly' Live"

One of my fav 80s albums. I kick myself for not getting the 5.1 disk when I could. I can't wait to hear this.`

 

Often, but not always. I share the distaste for those arrangements, but there were tours where that stuff was minimal, or played down considerably. Not generally a fan of replacing guitar lines with horns, backing singers adding flair that wasn't in the original tune, or reworking songs which once had bite into lite-fare. I feel like there was a lot of that happening in '93-'94, but on the 2000 tour supporting Two Against Nature, for example, most of the arrangements were close to the original albums.

 

It’s not far behind the first 6, about equal to Gaucho, and appreciably better than Morph or Kamakariad, IMO.

 

It’s out today. Sounding great!

Does anyone know the band credits? I’m too poor to afford the physical release.

 

October 1st I thought? That's vinyl release in UK/Ireland anyway.

 

Sorry, I should have said that it’s streaming today.

 

Just went through Spotify version, he doesn't sing at all on Maxine, wonder why it's not hugely different in range to other songs on the album?

 

Can't find it on Tidal. Any pointers please?

 

Found it !

 

Except for all the great Steely Dan outtakes he could revisit, complete, and release. I'd guess there are the equivalent of at least 2 Steely Dan albums..... waiting.... waiting... to be liberated to spin precisely at 33.3 rpm on granite hydraulically mounted turntables with helium cooled styluses and flow like liquid argon through speakers and headphones around the world....

waiting....like those characters on the cover of 'Countdown to Ecstasy'

 

Playing the Northeast Corridor Steely Dan Live set first but I have the Nightfly Live queued up for today as well.

 

Both available on HD Tracks. 20% off with code HD20SEPT.

 

I just checked out the sound clips on HD Tracks.

On Northeast Corridor, the sound quality and the performances are quite good, although I felt the arrangements and the use of the female harmony vocals on several songs ("Bodhisattva," for example) took away some of rockin' feel of the original studio versions. Nevertheless, I'm sure I'll be buying it.

On The Nightfly Live, the performances seem almost too much like carbon copies of the studio album. Maybe the full length versions add some improvisation or other variations not in the clips?

 

I wish they would’ve added the dates to the performances in the liners.

 

believe it or not this is a jewel case.

as is the live steely dan.

i didn't even know they still made jewel cases.

 

What a magnificent CD. Sounds beautiful to my aging ears. Love the little updates to the overall sound and instrumentation. In truth, Donald did even better versions of 2-3 of these songs during his '06 solo tour, but everything here sounds wonderful. My only complaint: I was at the Beacon for the show form which 6 of the 8 cuts were taken, and I promise you the crowd was far more enthusiastic than reflected here. Most of us knew he'd/they'd never played this LP in entirety before, and might not again (though he did once more later in Boston), that many of the songs had rarely been played live, and the crowd was loudly appreciative.

 

Sounds great, but boy were we lucky to get a jewel case because they'vce clearly spared no expense as far as liners are concerned

 

Pour yourself a Cuban Breeze for this one.

After listening to the new live Dan album this one is really refreshing. The band is excellent as you'd expect and the whole performance is just as enjoyable as listening to the studio album in 1982. Arrangements are good, the horn section is so in sync it sounds like one instrument and Donald sounds good, he even sustains his voice longer than on the studio versions sometimes.

The first few tracks are a bit vibraphone heavy but that's all. Really like the ladies sung Maxine for a change (Donald on oxygen break ?) and my favourite is New Frontier. The disc gets better the further you get.

Imagine what would have happened if Fagen actually toured this album after release in 1982, maybe with some classy jazz tracks as well, plus what that would've meant for Steely Dan ....

Really enjoyed this one and it sounds like so did Donald and the band.

Thumbs up to them for releasing it separately and resisting the obvious Deluxe two-discer and for releasing it in a jewel case no less.

 

I think Donald sought to minimize his costs here, given that CD sales and streaming revenues are so low to begin with. Guess he figured that the cover art doesn't matter if people rely on streaming and iTunes. Keep in mind how much royalty $$ Donald and others reasonably premised their retirement/senior income on that has largely vanished. Just wished they'd release more of their incredible live performances - maybe some of their other album nights. He could have used a photo of the Beacon marquee decked out for the show instead of the stock photo of Manhattan.

 

Cool interview with Donald:

A Conversation With Donald Fagen

 

Just kind of incidentally mentions that Becker was ill for a decade, and he tried to keep things 'afloat'.

 

CD ordered. kinda fell off my radar like the upcoming War Greatest hits and Doobie Brothers

 

Actually, the first time he performed “The Nightfly” was in 2018, not the night you saw it. I was at the 2018 Beacon run.

Steely Dan Setlist at Beacon Theatre, New York

 

Keith Carlock sounds utterly outstanding on these releases, maybe the best I've ever heard him. From the timing to the dynamics to the sheer quality of the recorded sound - this is the best live drumming I've heard behind Steely Dan. It's funny - when he plays he often looks a little awkward or hunched over to me. It can almost be a distraction. But purely in terms of the audio, he is really bringing it on these. A clinic for drummers. And it's not all flash. This music requires leaving space in the right places, and he's got that feel.

 

• Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Roger Rosenberg
• Bass – Freddie Washington
• Drums – Keith Carlock
• Guitar – Connor Kennedy, Jon Herington
• Piano, Keyboards – Jim Beard
• Producer, Vocals, Piano [Fender], Melodica – Donald Fagen
• Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Ari Ambrose, Walt Weiskopf
• Trombone – Jim Pugh
• Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Percussion – Michael Leonhart
• Vocals, Percussion – Carolyn Leonhart, Catherine Russell, Jamie Leonhart, La Tanya Hall

Mastered By – Bernie Grundman