I know I should quit my bitching. I was excited by the prospect of live recordings from the Steely Dan band featuring Donald Fagen and really jazzed to hear the ultimate Fagen album, 1982’s Nightfly, recreated by this crack group and fantastic singers.
Sure, I would have preferred a recording from Fagen’s current band the Nightflyers, or even Fagen’s previous group which featured Wayne Krantz and Jon Herington from 2006. The Nightfly Live will have to do for now.
“I.G.Y.,” “Green Flower Street,” and “New Frontier” have all been thoroughly road tested by Steely Dan (with Walter Becker), the Nightflyers and/or Fagen’s earlier solo band. The remaining Nightfly songs, not so much.
I’ve always wondered how Fagen would pull off “Maxine.” The original version with its standout acoustic piano by Greg Phillanganes, powerful organ by Fagen, and the best Fagen vocal stack ever seemed almost impossible to replicate. Furthermore, to rearrange to song would be sacrilegious.
Wisely, Fagen decided not even to attempt to replicate his vocals, leaving it to vocalists Carolyn Leonhart, LaTonya Hall, Catherine Russell (or Jamie Leonhart, as I can’t tell from the cryptic liner notes) to do the heavy lifting. The Danettes do a stunning job and, if you close your eyes, you can imagine the setting.
The mighty Jim Beard handles the piano parts, but he only has two hands – leaving many of the Hammond organ parts and electric piano flourishes untouched. I didn’t attend the Beacon Theatre show this recording was culled from, but assume Donald Fagen wasn’t on stage. If he was, he’s all but inaudible.
I would also have preferred Freddie Washington to be higher in the mix by Michael “Coach” Connor. But I would be remiss not to mention the tenor sax solo by Walt Weiskopf, which is inspired and appropriate as always but not iconic like that of the late Michael Brecker.
All and all, this live version of “Maxine” is a worthy addition to the Steely Dan canon, and the most robust performance on side one of Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live.
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