Interview shock! Fagen: We've lost our sense of humour!

Seriously though; here's a brand new interview with Donald Fagen in the Montreal Gazette. A couple of new quotes as he and the reporter revisit the Steely Dan saga once more.

Great new Walter Becker and Donald Fagen interviews

Do not miss this interview with Walter Becker in Time Out New York. Lots of talk about the new album, songwriting and Steely Dan!
New insights even for those of those who have read each and every line written about the band, Walter and Donald.

ADDED: And here's a new review of the Wednesday gig in Alpharetta, Georgia. After reading the diehard fans reactions and thoughts it's interesting to read this review of the show written by a guy that admits he's not that familiar with Steely Dan but ends up with a positive view of the evening.

AND FINALLY YET ANOTHER ADDITION TO THIS POST: Another brand new interview appeared today. It's with Donald Fagen and can be read over at the Gothamist.

Walter Becker radio interviews

It's a 10 minute interview he did on the Atlanta radio station The River 97.1, and it's up now on walterbecker.com.

If you've read the press material and the articles published so far there's not much new stuff mantioned in the interview. With one big exception:
When asked if he'll do any songs from the album on the upcoming Steely Dan tour he says no and explains why.
Walter also mentions his favourite track from Circus Money and why it is his favourite.

Well worth a listen. Walter's entertaining as always.

UPDATE June 6: Here's the link to another radio interview online kindly posted by Dimension Skipper in the comments:

"Not as interesting, but here's another 10 minute by-phone interview Walter did on WMGK recently (May 28th) with long-time rock DJ John DeBella on Classic Rock WMGK, 102.9 in Philadelphia."

Walter sounds in a good mood and is able to rephrase the answers to some familiar questions.

"Fagen and Martha, man"

April 7 we promised a post in regard to Mr Donald Fagen the next day. So it's long overdue. But here it is. Finally.

While Walter Becker's Circus Money will be out June 10, the other half of Steely Dan will beat him to appearing on a new record. Donald Fagen plays on one of the tracks on Martha Wainwright's new album I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too.
The release dates are as follows:

UK - May 12th
Australia- May 13th
Germany - May 23rd
All Europe - May 26th
Canada - June 3rd
USA - June 10

The track Donald is on is titled So Many Friends. Now, that's a song she has been playing live for some time, and you can actually find and listen to three different preformances of the song on the Internet.

March, 2006 she performed So Many Friends and two more songs on Minnesota Public Radio. Here's the link. There are two listen-links up and to the right on the page.

And this link will take you to another Wainwright performance of the song. This time on National Public Radio. Both her and Neko Case's sets can be downloaded.

And finally there's the YouTube clip from Milwaukee and 2006.

Go listen to all versions and try to figure out what Donald will do on the keyboards with this song!

And for all who've missed Michael Leonhart's Memory Man videos on YouTube. Here they are, featuring Harlan Post Jr. as the Memory Man. Now, doesn't Harlan look familiar...? ;)

Donald on Sirius: Said and played

It's not the definitive word-by-word transcript of Donald Fagen's three shows on Sirius Radio i February.
But for now it's the most complete and in detail review of what was being said and played.

Please, visit this page for what we have to offer:
Donald on Sirius

Additionally:
There's a text from jazz.com titled The Nightfly revisited well worth reading. Catch it on donaldfagen.com's news page.

Donald Fagen on Martha's next one

Donald Fagen will make an appearance on Martha Wainwright's next album; I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too due June 10.
Also on bord for her third album: Pete Townshed (The Who), Garth Hudson (The Band), her brother Rufus Wainwright and mother Kate McGarrigle.
Full track listing on Filter Magazine's homepage.

All this has us wondering when the record by Michael Leonhart and Daniel Yvinec will see the light of day. Apparently Donald sung on three songs and even played a little keyboards on the album first set for an early 2007 release.

Donald Fagen on Radio Margaritaville

I did manage to tune in the right time of day this time, and was able to listen to Donald's one hour show on Sirius Radio's Radio Margaritaville channel.

Less talk than on the Pure Jazz channel, but I could definitely get used to Donald the radio DJ. A pretty cool persona with the odd piece of info on the artist or recording.

And the playlist? I didn't know what to expect and this is what was played:

Perez Prado & His Orchestra - Mambo #8
Perez Prado - Patricia
The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Hard Times
Dionne Warwick - Land Of Make Believe
Mbuti Pygmies - Molimo Fire Dance Song
Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim - So Tinha De Ser Com Voce
Machito - Donde Estaabus Tu
Stan Kenton - Maria
Herbie Mann - Comin' Home Baby
Tito Rodriguez - Liza
Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro)
Esquivel - Miniskirt
Cal Tjader - Afro Blue
Nelson Riddle - Lolita Ya-Ya
The Mighty Terror - TV Calypso
Lolita Flores - Vete De Mi

So I have this show, the Pure Jazz show as well as a part of the first Sirius Radio show Donald Fagen did this month; the one on the Totally 70s channel. Expect some sort of collective report on what these three shows contained besides the music played towards the end of the week/weekend.

Fagen the DJ: Sirius replay tonight!

Looks like they're giving us all a second chance to hear Donald's second show; the one on the Margaritaville channel. Here's what it says on http://www.sirius.com/radiomargaritaville:

"Guest DJ: Donald Fagen
Tonight 10:00 pm ET
We're going to Margaritaville, with Donald Fagen as our musical tour guide! We’re replaying the Donald Fagen Radio Margaritaville Guest DJ show, where Donald plays some of his all-time favorite music inspired by the tropics."

OK. I'm setting the alarm and will try to catch the show 4 in the morning CET (Central European Time).

Finally: Caught the final Fagen show on Sirius

Happy to report that I managed to catch the third and final show on Sirius satellite radio with Donald Fagen acting as guest DJ.

The news of the three shows was posted on donaldfagen.com six days before the first show was aired.
February 7 he was a guest on the '70's channel and Magic Matt's Celebrity Thursday.

I never bothered to check out the possibility of listening over the web as I recalled that I had tried that a couple of years ago and found out that you couldn't listen from outside the US. Either way I was sure fans in the States would listen and/or record to report what was said and what was played.

But the reality of it was that not one word was reported on the Steely Dan fan-sites. Odd. Strange. And slightly weird. Surely at least three or four diehard fans in the USA had access to the Sirius satellite radio signal and would tune in and listen?
In the end Carsten from Denmark seem to be the only one who caught at least part of the show. Online using the free three day trial. A bit wiser I signed up to catch Donald's next appearance.

Wednesday 13 was the day he was a guest DJ on the Margaritaville channel. I signed up a day or so before and everything was working fine. Except my grasp of time and when the show actually aired. To me - used to a 24 hour clock and view of the day - "Wednesday 12.00 midnight" could mean either midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday or midnight between Wednesday and Thursday. I finally chanced on it being the latter as that would fit in better with my working week. That - of course - made me miss the show by a mere 12 hours! Damn "a.m." and "p.m."!!!

Just like the first one this didn't result in any reports or reactions on the fans pages. A couple of posts asked for what was played, but no answer appeared.

Quotes from the excellent, original and still first choice for Steely Dan news; dandom.com's BlueBook:

• As i had my radio all set up to record DF on Sirius 70s I heard about 20 seconds of banter when, for the first time since December, my signal cuts out and I lose transmission. OF COURSE, murphy's law at its finest.
• So I guess no one heard the first Sirius Fagen event at all since there are no reports????
• Anybody got the playlist f. Sirius?
• So how was Donald on Sirius this past Thursday?
• May anybody post the playlist of the sirius show?

Saturday 16 was the final show and the final chance for me to listen in. I had to sign up for another three day trial but finally caught Donald on Pure Jazz/72, where I heard him play his and Walters jazz favourites.
The show was 90 minutes long and I managed to record it.
Donald told some memories and stories to go with the music and I'll get back to those, but right now I have to get some sleep - it's 6 a.m. here! So I'll end with a listing of the artists/tracks played:

1. Cannonball Adderley - Toy
2. Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - There Is No Greater Love
3. Miles Davis - It Could Happen To You
4. Red Garland - Birk's Works
5. Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy's Business
6. Dizzy Gillespie - On The Sunny Side Of The Street
7. Dizzy Gillespie - Something In Your Smile
8. Horace Silver -Song Of My Father
9. Coleman Hawkins - Swingin' Skotch
10. Charles Mingus - Slop
11. Gerry Mulligan - Blueport
12. Benny Goodman - Good-Bye

P.S. My guess is that the fans will focus on Donald's comments before he played Horace Silver's Song Of My Father. Some will believe that Donald didn't catch the similarities between the tune and the opening of Rikki Don't Lose That Number, while some will stick with the "borrowed" theory.

Minor update on donaldfagen.com

Added:
One paragraph or eight sentences of text to the Lexi Says page. You do the dechipering...

Donald Fagen on Sirius Satellite Radio

Thursday, February 7
Channel: '70's
Event: Magic Matt 'Celebrity Thursday' with Donald Fagen!
Time: 7:00am EST

Wednesday, February 13
Channel: Margaritaville
Event: Donald Fagen Interview
Time: 12:00 midnight EST.


Saturday, February 16
Channel: Pure Jazz/72
Event: Guest DJ Donald Fagen of Steely Dan
Time: 10 pm ET

More info at donaldfagen.com
More on Sirius Satellite Radio: http://www.sirius.com/

My only question is: Who can help me out with a recording of all three shows?

donaldfagen.com update: Lexi Says

The Lexi Says section at donaldfagen.com updated with a paragraph and a pic.

Donald Fagen: Unprinted letter to the Times

Over on donaldfagen.com Donald Fagen has published a letter to the New York Times that the newspaper didn't print. It's "concerning Michiko Kakutani's December 7th review of Craig Unger's "The Fall of the House of Bush"".

More on the book can be read over on Craig Unger's homepage.

* * *
And since it's almost January 10:

Happy 60th Birthday, Donald!

The Nightfly Trilogy - a review

All About Jazz has a thorough review of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Trilogy box set. Well worth a read.

Here's the link:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27807

Donald Fagen on Ike Turner

Ike Turner passed away last week. He was 76.
Donald Fagen writes a fine obituary in Slate magazine. You can read it here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2180162/

And why not give Ike's Rocket 88 a spin while you're at it:


And here's Roscoe Gordon's No More Doggin' mentioned by Donald in the obituary:


And, believe it or not, but Donald's favorite is up on YouTube to hear as well!
Quote:
"My favorite from this period, though, is "I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song)" by the Ikettes, with Dolores Johnson singing the lead vocal."

It's here...!

"It" being the Nightfly Trilogy box set. The Swedish Customs (Tullverket) and the Swedish Postal Service (Posten) added 169 Swedish kronor to the total. That's $25.50 or £12.90 or €18.00. But, hey! I got one of the 100 signed copies sold through donaldfagen.com.

While waiting for my box set to arrive I searched for info on it and pictures of it on the Internet. I wanted to know what it looked like, what it contained.
So now that I have my own copy I'll do just that; get some pics and text up as soon as possible so you can see what you get if you buy Donald Fagen's Nightfly Trilogy.

I have a busy Friday, but sometime late this Saturday a page should be up and ready. Check back for a link.

P.S.
We've added the two previously unreleased tracks; Hank's Pad and Viva Viva Rock 'N' Roll, to the Radio Dupree playlist.

- - - - - Update December 2 - - - - -

The Trilogy page is up! Just a few photos and quick description of what it looks like. To see and read just click this link to get there.

Fagen Trilogy promo sold on eBay

What can you do with $71.01?
You can buy a promo copy of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Trilogy box set on eBay.


That's what somebody did earlier this month. Looks like a two-record deal; one CD and one DVD.

Here's a link to the page.

Donald Fagen MVI page

We've mentioned it a couple of months ago, but it looks a bit different now so we thought we'd give you the URL once more:

http://www.mvimusic.com/donaldfagen/

That's the official page on what "MVI" is in regard to the Nightfly Trilogy box and Donald Fagen.

(MVI's are basically DVD discs with music and bonus stuff like videos, text and pics.)

And here's a link to a discussion on an audiophile forum. The view of the box set so far seem to be unimpressed.
Unimpressed by the sound: No remastering of the albums and the bonus cuts just in stereo.
Unimpressed by the packaging: No printed booklets. All the text/credits on the MVI discs only. A custom-ringtone application were you have to pay for whatever ringtone you create from the one song per album that's available. And then there's the mp3 versions of the music for the mp3 ripping-challenged among the boxed set owners.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=101396
(The comments on the boxed set starts on page seven...)

For us the interesting stuff is to see what Donald has to say in the written track-by-track comments to all songs. And what the three promised bonus things will prove to be. According to the MVI-site we can expect something more:

"At least three "connected events" will be made available at minimum to registered owners of an MVI release. These events will include the ability to download bonus songs or video and may also include access to album updates, artist posting and special offers. Some artists may offer more than three connected events if they choose."

We can't help notice that the "Kamakiriad Behind The Scenes Documentary" mentioned in early press releases has disappeared from the box set. Our guess is that it might be one of the three bonus thingies coming up.

Anyhoo... We'll see what we think of the whole shebang as soon as our copy arrives.

One thing we were reminded of reading the forum postings was that this would've been a great chance to release Donald's version of the song Bright Lights, Big City from the 1988 movie of the same name. It was recorded but never made the soundtrack CD ... and not this boxed set either.

Got your copy of the box set already? Not bothering to get one? Feel free to share your views by adding a comment.

New Fagen interview

Reuter's has a new interview with Donald Fagen here.
Of special interest is the final question & answer:

Q: What's next?

A: "I'm back into songwriting mode ... for myself and also talking with Walter about a Steely Dan album. We are planning to go out with Steely Dan in the summer (playing live) and maybe next fall (2008) I'm hoping to go out with my band ...We are having a lot of fun in our old age."

The full interview can be read here.

(P.S. As often is the case this Steely Dan-related link was found over on the dandom.com's BlueBook.)

Reason to be cheerful: Trilogy in the mail

Friday the status for my ordered copy of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Trilogy changed from "processing" to "shipped". So it's on its way! That info put a smile on my face.

And this does too. Donald and Walter back in 1996 sharing the vocals on a familiar song: