Here’s how S. Victor Aaron described “Bodhisattva” back in 2011 as part of the Steely Dan Sunday series: “A rock song about Buddhism that you can dance the Charleston to, and boasts not one but two bad-ass guitar leads? That’s a party tune, Steely Dan style.”
The contradiction that’s created by Toto’s rendering of this Steely Dan concert favorite is no less evident with the version from 2002’s Through the Looking Glass. There is at least an album or two worth of Steely Dan songs that members of Toto played on (including tracks from Katy Lied, Pretzel Logic and Gaucho), so why pick a Steely Dan song which lyrically is wanting? “Bodhisattva” works for Toto for the same reason that it worked (and still works in concert) for Steely Dan: The song is damn fun.
Simon Phillips breathes life into the drum parts, which keep enough of Jim Hodder’s original work while adding a double bass-drum aggressiveness. Mike Porcaro also offers a different take on Walter Becker’s original picked bass part. It’s not necessarily better, but it isn’t a copy of the original. David Paich’s piano and Steve Porcaro’s synthesizer programming are perfect. Porcaro probably created his parts in an eighth of the time it took Donald Fagen to badger the fake horns out of his analog Arp Soloist synth.
Bobby Kimball and Steve Lukather share vocal duties, and the blend is effective. Lukather, however, foregoes adding another guitarist to duplicate the original guitar duel of Steely Dan’s Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. The result is stunning, and a fitting reinvention of a Steely Dan classic. There is an equally amazing version on Toto’s 25th Anniversary: Live in Amsterdam album that’s worth a listen.
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