Steely Dan - Aja
Aja is the 6th LP by Steely Dan, and was released in September of 1977. The album was produced by Steely Dan's longtime producer Gary Katz, and was engineered by longtime executive engineer Roger Nichols. Steely Dan was an unusual rock band in that there were really only 2 members; Walter Becker (songwriting, guitar, bass) and Donald Fagen (songwriting, lead vocals, keyboards). The pair wrote the songs, helped make the arrangements, hired the session musicians, and were very involved with the overall production of their LPs. By the time Aja was recorded, they had their system very dialed in. Their ability to hire the right players and get the best performances from them led to astonishingly great results. Becker & Fagen's (and Katz and Nichols) painstaking attention to detail and relentless desire to make the songs as 'perfect' as possible truly pays off on this LP. Aja was Steely Dan's most commercially successful album, and is considered by many to be their finest work.
The list of session players is lengthy and staggering: Wayne Shorter, Larry Carlton, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Paul Humphrey, Steve Gadd, Jim Keltner, Michael McDonald etc. These musicians, and the ambitious blend of jazz & pop / rock led to results that were sophisticated and imaginative, while remaining earthy, funky and totally accessible. The lyrics and vocal delivery add the perfect amount of cynicism, wit, surprise, and mystery. The whole album feels very calculated, but in the best possible way. Everything has been considered, vetted, and thought through. Yet the LP is lively, and there's incredible spontaneity in the solos. There's abundant joy throughout. Yes, Aja seems to have a bit of a mean streak, but it's also human and vulnerable.
Recording engineer Roger Nichols once ascribed his close professional connection with Steely Dan and Mr. Katz to the obsession they all had with getting the most out of the technology in the recording studio. "We're all perfectionists. It wasn't a drag for me to do things over and over until it was perfect. It would have driven a lot of other engineers up the wall. In my own way, I'm just as crazy as they are."
"The best recordings have the aspect of transporting you. They actually create their own environment. That is the goal of anyone mixing or mastering—to help the music make that emotional connection with the listener, to make the sound easily accessible so that the music can just come out and grab the listener. It puts the listener in this special magic place that is only for that music." - Aja mastering / re-mastering engineer Bernie Grundman
To close on a personal note, when I was in high school I used to bump Aja on cassette in my VW bug. Loud. Frequently. I installed a sick Alpine car stereo, the separate EQ (the one with the dope green lights) and Infinity speakers. I loved, and listened to, ALL kinds of music. But that Aja tape, on that system, was the best thing a person could ever hear in my opinion (at least in MY car). Now we've got an even better sound-system. And I'm glad ya'll have come to bump ‘Aja’ with us here at Equipment Room!
Aja is the 6th LP by Steely Dan, and was released in September of 1977. The album was produced by Steely Dan's longtime producer Gary Katz, and was engineered by longtime executive engineer Roger Nichols. Steely Dan was an unusual rock band in that there were really only 2 members; Walter Becker (songwriting, guitar, bass) and Donald Fagen (songwriting, lead vocals, keyboards). The pair wrote the songs, helped make the arrangements, hired the session musicians, and were very involved with the overall production of their LPs. By the time Aja was recorded, they had their system very dialed in. Their ability to hire the right players and get the best performances from them led to astonishingly great results. Becker & Fagen's (and Katz and Nichols) painstaking attention to detail and relentless desire to make the songs as 'perfect' as possible truly pays off on this LP. Aja was Steely Dan's most commercially successful album, and is considered by many to be their finest work.
The list of session players is lengthy and staggering: Wayne Shorter, Larry Carlton, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Paul Humphrey, Steve Gadd, Jim Keltner, Michael McDonald etc. These musicians, and the ambitious blend of jazz & pop / rock led to results that were sophisticated and imaginative, while remaining earthy, funky and totally accessible. The lyrics and vocal delivery add the perfect amount of cynicism, wit, surprise, and mystery. The whole album feels very calculated, but in the best possible way. Everything has been considered, vetted, and thought through. Yet the LP is lively, and there's incredible spontaneity in the solos. There's abundant joy throughout. Yes, Aja seems to have a bit of a mean streak, but it's also human and vulnerable.
Recording engineer Roger Nichols once ascribed his close professional connection with Steely Dan and Mr. Katz to the obsession they all had with getting the most out of the technology in the recording studio. "We're all perfectionists. It wasn't a drag for me to do things over and over until it was perfect. It would have driven a lot of other engineers up the wall. In my own way, I'm just as crazy as they are."
"The best recordings have the aspect of transporting you. They actually create their own environment. That is the goal of anyone mixing or mastering—to help the music make that emotional connection with the listener, to make the sound easily accessible so that the music can just come out and grab the listener. It puts the listener in this special magic place that is only for that music." - Aja mastering / re-mastering engineer Bernie Grundman
To close on a personal note, when I was in high school I used to bump Aja on cassette in my VW bug. Loud. Frequently. I installed a sick Alpine car stereo, the separate EQ (the one with the dope green lights) and Infinity speakers. I loved, and listened to, ALL kinds of music. But that Aja tape, on that system, was the best thing a person could ever hear in my opinion (at least in MY car). Now we've got an even better sound-system. And I'm glad ya'll have come to bump ‘Aja’ with us here at Equipment Room!
Aja is the 6th LP by Steely Dan, and was released in September of 1977. The album was produced by Steely Dan's longtime producer Gary Katz, and was engineered by longtime executive engineer Roger Nichols. Steely Dan was an unusual rock band in that there were really only 2 members; Walter Becker (songwriting, guitar, bass) and Donald Fagen (songwriting, lead vocals, keyboards). The pair wrote the songs, helped make the arrangements, hired the session musicians, and were very involved with the overall production of their LPs. By the time Aja was recorded, they had their system very dialed in. Their ability to hire the right players and get the best performances from them led to astonishingly great results. Becker & Fagen's (and Katz and Nichols) painstaking attention to detail and relentless desire to make the songs as 'perfect' as possible truly pays off on this LP. Aja was Steely Dan's most commercially successful album, and is considered by many to be their finest work.
The list of session players is lengthy and staggering: Wayne Shorter, Larry Carlton, Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Paul Humphrey, Steve Gadd, Jim Keltner, Michael McDonald etc. These musicians, and the ambitious blend of jazz & pop / rock led to results that were sophisticated and imaginative, while remaining earthy, funky and totally accessible. The lyrics and vocal delivery add the perfect amount of cynicism, wit, surprise, and mystery. The whole album feels very calculated, but in the best possible way. Everything has been considered, vetted, and thought through. Yet the LP is lively, and there's incredible spontaneity in the solos. There's abundant joy throughout. Yes, Aja seems to have a bit of a mean streak, but it's also human and vulnerable.
Recording engineer Roger Nichols once ascribed his close professional connection with Steely Dan and Mr. Katz to the obsession they all had with getting the most out of the technology in the recording studio. "We're all perfectionists. It wasn't a drag for me to do things over and over until it was perfect. It would have driven a lot of other engineers up the wall. In my own way, I'm just as crazy as they are."
"The best recordings have the aspect of transporting you. They actually create their own environment. That is the goal of anyone mixing or mastering—to help the music make that emotional connection with the listener, to make the sound easily accessible so that the music can just come out and grab the listener. It puts the listener in this special magic place that is only for that music." - Aja mastering / re-mastering engineer Bernie Grundman
To close on a personal note, when I was in high school I used to bump Aja on cassette in my VW bug. Loud. Frequently. I installed a sick Alpine car stereo, the separate EQ (the one with the dope green lights) and Infinity speakers. I loved, and listened to, ALL kinds of music. But that Aja tape, on that system, was the best thing a person could ever hear in my opinion (at least in MY car). Now we've got an even better sound-system. And I'm glad ya'll have come to bump ‘Aja’ with us here at Equipment Room!