It’s still a little odd to think of Steely Dan as a ferocious live band when they made their fame with some of the most carefully crafted studio concoctions in all of rock, but here we are coming up on three decades of the 50-year-old group as a constant touring machine.
So perhaps in that sense, maybe it’s more intriguing that they are only now about to put out their second live album. Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! is a capture of the Walter Becker/Donald Fagen brainchild in its current, post-Becker period. Walter’s untimely death in 2017 put an end to a legendary songwriting partnership but Fagen elected to carry on with performing the songs themselves live under the SD banner and inserting his Nightflyers guitarist Connor Kennedy in the Becker role on stage. (The guitar role, no one can replace WB’s immortal rant role.)
Other than Kennedy, the lineup of the touring band hadn’t changed much at all over the years: Jon Herington has been the primary lead guitarist since forever, and bassist Freddie Washington, drummer Keith Carlock and keyboardist Jim Beard are also serving decades-long tenures in the band, as are backup vocalist Carolyn Leonhart and her brother, trumpet player Michael Leonhart.
All told a crack crew of 15 musicians – including four backing vocalists – are arrayed to take on this most beautifully complex of Steely Dan tunes, “Aja,” now available for streaming.
“Aja” is a pretty good way to showcase just how capable this band is, which is probably why it’s usually included in the set list, even appearing on that prior live album, Alive in America.
The opening moments is a studio-perfect match for the 1977 recording, but while the arrangement hews close to the original meticulous construction, individual performances distinguish themselves to offer fresh twists on an old plot. You hear Fagen tootling around on a melodica and Beard with some very tasty piano comping. Connor and Herington take turns on guitar solos that in typical Steely Dan band style, remind you of the solos you know but don’t copy them. And then there’s the monumental Wayne Shorter/Steve Gadd face-off with more than viable replacements in saxophone ace Walt Weiskopf and Carlock.
A descending chord coda for a tidy wrap-up ends the song just like the Alive in America version, since fade-outs don’t work out so well in concert.
Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! will make its big debut on September 24, 2021, offered by Universal Music.
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