The first album from Steely Dan, and a really nice chapter in their career – one that's maybe a bit less iconic than the late 70s records, but in a way that really keeps things interesting! There's definitely less jazz and polish than on the later albums – but already, the group are writing the kinds of songs that nobody ever seemed to pen before, and which few other groups could match later – despite the countless legions who tried! The guitars are all nice and strong – that sharp Skunk Baxter edge that helped get the group firmly onto the charts right away – on titles that include their classic singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin In The Years", the oft-showcased "Dirty Work", and other cuts that include "Kings", "Midnite Cruiser", "Only A Fool Would Say That", "Fire In The Hole", "Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me", "Change Of The Guard", and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again". CD

The first album from Steely Dan, and a really nice chapter in their career – one that's maybe a bit less iconic than the late 70s records, but in a way that really keeps things interesting! There's definitely less jazz and polish than on the later albums – but already, the group are writing the kinds of songs that nobody ever seemed to pen before, and which few other groups could match later – despite the countless legions who tried! The guitars are all nice and strong – that sharp Skunk Baxter edge that helped get the group firmly onto the charts right away – on titles that include their classic singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin In The Years", the oft-showcased "Dirty Work", and other cuts that include "Kings", "Midnite Cruiser", "Only A Fool Would Say That", "Fire In The Hole", "Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me", "Change Of The Guard", and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again". CD

The second Steely Dan album in the last three years, and only their third in the previous 20! On Everything Must Go, the Dan take a more laidback, easy funk approach to the arrangements than the incredibly grand scale of their mid-to-late 70s work. The tunes are comparably minimal, in fact, but don't fret it. For one thing, they have nothing left to prove in the grand jazz rock vein – they've already reached the top of that mountain. There is no need for Becker and Fagen (or we fans) to stress over topping Aja all these years into their career, especially when they can crank out a wonderfully hummable groove and barbed, incisively witty lyrics in their sleep. They are still way, way, WAY more interesting in 2003 than pretty much all of their poorly-aging 70s contemporaries, and the fact that we still have these guys in fine form is something we refuse to take for granted! Tracks include the title song, "The Last Mall", "Blues Beach", "Godwhacker", "Slang Of Ages", "Green Book", and more. CD

The last album in the classic run of Steely Dan – the final taste we'd have of the group until their surprising revival in the 90s! Gaucho picks up beautifully where Aja left off – warmly produced with a deep undercurrent of jazz, but perhaps a bit more down to earth feel at times too – not in the music, which is still up there in the heavens, but in some of the subject matter of the tunes, which almost takes us back to Royal Scam territory. Donald Fagan's vocals are wonderful throughout – a sound for which there's no referent or real description – and the balance in the instrumentation is near perfect on tunes that include "Babylon Sisters", "Hey Nineteen", "Time Out Of Mind", "My Rival", "Glamour Profession", and "Gaucho". CD

An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blue", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". CD

The last album in the classic run of Steely Dan – the final taste we'd have of the group until their surprising revival in the 90s! Gaucho picks up beautifully where Aja left off – warmly produced with a deep undercurrent of jazz, but perhaps a bit more down to earth feel at times too – not in the music, which is still up there in the heavens, but in some of the subject matter of the tunes, which almost takes us back to Royal Scam territory. Donald Fagan's vocals are wonderful throughout – a sound for which there's no referent or real description – and the balance in the instrumentation is near perfect on tunes that include "Babylon Sisters", "Hey Nineteen", "Time Out Of Mind", "My Rival", "Glamour Profession", and "Gaucho". CD

A classic collection – with 14 cuts that include "Kid Charlemagne", "My Old School", "Black Friday", "Deacon Blues", "Bodhisattva", "Hey Nineteen", "Peg", "Do It Again", and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" – plus their great theme to "FM", which wasn't on any of their albums! CD

Steely Dan really hitting the heights – moving into hipper, more sophisticated territory than before – pushing the envelope with both their music and lyrics, which are completely sublime! It's hard to put our finger on the magic of this one, but it's the perfect summation of everything that's come before, with a bit of a nod towards the future – yet all with a simple, song-based charm that we really love. The Becker and Fagan team get some key studio help here – showing a move away from previous group-based recordings – and Phil Woods turns in some especially nice work on his sublime solo for "Doctor Wu". Other tracks include "Black Friday", "Bad Sneakers", "Any World That I'm Welcome To", "Your Gold Teeth II", "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More", "Throw Back The Little Ones", and "Everyone's Gone To The Movies". CD

My god, what a record! This one's genius through and through – a set that sometimes gets eclipsed in the brilliance to come, but which is easily one of our favorites ever by Steely Dan! There's a beautifully focused feel here – thanks to Donald Fagan's incredible lead vocals, and a sense of songwriting that never takes any left turns – no odd forays into different styles or previous genres, just all steeped in Steely, as the group should be by this point! John Klemmer turns in some wonderful sax work that really helps shape the sound, and titles include the wonderful "Caves Of Altimira", "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "Green Earrings", and "The Royal Scam". CD

Titles include "Gaslighting Abbie", "Janie Runaway", "Almost Gothic", "Negative Girl", "West Of Hollywood", and "Jack Of Speed". CD

Steely Dan really hitting the heights – moving into hipper, more sophisticated territory than before – pushing the envelope with both their music and lyrics, which are completely sublime! It's hard to put our finger on the magic of this one, but it's the perfect summation of everything that's come before, with a bit of a nod towards the future – yet all with a simple, song-based charm that we really love. The Becker and Fagan team get some key studio help here – showing a move away from previous group-based recordings – and Phil Woods turns in some especially nice work on his sublime solo for "Doctor Wu". Other tracks include "Black Friday", "Bad Sneakers", "Any World That I'm Welcome To", "Your Gold Teeth II", "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More", "Throw Back The Little Ones", and "Everyone's Gone To The Movies". CD

My god, what a record! This one's genius through and through – a set that sometimes gets eclipsed in the brilliance to come, but which is easily one of our favorites ever by Steely Dan! There's a beautifully focused feel here – thanks to Donald Fagan's incredible lead vocals, and a sense of songwriting that never takes any left turns – no odd forays into different styles or previous genres, just all steeped in Steely, as the group should be by this point! John Klemmer turns in some wonderful sax work that really helps shape the sound, and titles include the wonderful "Caves Of Altimira", "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "Green Earrings", and "The Royal Scam". CD

A brilliant set of post-post-post Konitz jazz – a late 70s Warne Marsh session, produced by Donald Fagan and Walter Becker of Steely Dan! Despite the smooth jazz feeling of Becker & Fagan's own work, the pair are completely respectful to Marsh and his twin-tenor frontman Pete Christlieb – recording them along with Lou Levy on piano, Jim Hughart on bass, and Nick Ceroli on drums, in a setting that's got a warm, acoustic feel. There's no tricks or electricity on the set – just a tight, angular approach to modern jazz – crafted in the twin-sax mode that Marsh recorded in often during the 50s. Titles include "Magnatism", "317 E 32nd", "Rapunzel", and "Tenors Of The Time". CD also features 3 bonus tracks – "Lunarcy", "Love Me", and "How About You". CD

One of our favorite albums ever from The Crusaders – a set that really sums up all the tightness they'd forged in the 70s, while still showing a new sense of soul and funk as well – expertly balanced with flawless LA production! The album may well be the group's equivalent of a Steely Dan album – no surprise, given the work they'd done on sessions for that group – and the title cut is the massive extended version of "Street Life", with killer vocals from Randy Crawford – and other titles include "My Lady", "Night Faces", "The Hustler", and "Rodeo Drive". CD

Two post-CTI gems from Deodato – back to back on a single CD! Whirlwinds is sweet keyboard soul from Deodato – a set that steps off nicely from the strengths of his big hits on CTI, hitting a similarly flowing groove that's really great! The instrumentation here is a bit more expanded than before, but never in a way that buries the keyboards – and Deodato's right out front on a range of electric keys that get some great support from John Tropea's finely-honed work on guitar! Titles include "Havana Strut", "Whirlwinds", "West 42nd Street", and a nice cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". And heck, even the album's version of Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" manages to come off like a funk tune! Artistry is a live set from Deodato – but one that's very much in the mode of his best CTI studio sessions – with soaring, over the top keyboard work that's totally great – backed by some tightly compressed guitar, bass, and drums, with just enough funk in the mix to keep things interesting! As with other Deodato records from the time, there's a mix of moods here that comes together nicely – a range that goes past his easy hits, and shows Deodato to be one of the hippest, most soulful keyboard talents of his generation. Titles include a great version of "Super Strut" that grooves for over 8 minutes, and which has some firey guitar that really competes with Deodato's work on the keys – and other tracks include "Farewell To A Friend", "Pavane For A Dead Princess", "Rio Sangre", and "Jivin". CD

A bit of jazzy magic from Fagen – stepping out from the cover of Steely Dan after the Gaucho album, and sounding pretty darn great on his own! The record is almost nostalgic, going back to a 50s of Brubeck, abstract expressionism, and pre-Castro Havana – filled with images that are a bit less oblique than those of Fagen's work with Steely Dan, and a love for the subject matter that makes us like the record even more. Musically, the set follows strongly from Gaucho, but has perhaps a bit more straight jazz – and titles include "The Goodbye Look", "Walk Between Raindrops", "IGY", "Green Flower Street", and "New Frontier". CD

That's Seafaring Strangers, not to be confused with the rootsy vibe of the Wayfaring Strangers on a similarly-named Numero Group series – as these guys are playing tightly-crafted sounds that soar to the mainstream – with a vibe that's obviously classy enough to get them admission to somebody's private yacht! And yet, in keeping with the Numero spirit, all of the music here is pretty darn obscure – pulled from obscure 70s records that were created in the shadow of major label AOR – all music that aimed for the smooth, jazzy vibe of bigger records by artists like Steely Dan or Boz Scaggs – but never got any sort of wide-label release! The quality of the work here is wonderful – homegrown and personal, but put together in a way that's really sharp – showing that even if you love AOR, you don't have to stick to the big labels to find your treasures. In true Numero fashion, the whole thing comes with detailed notes, which show a lot of research into the music – and the fact that the whole thing was hardly an accident in the way that it came together. Titles include "Aquaintances", "Your Burning Love" by Steps, "Give Me Your Love" by Paul Skyland, "Dance Of Love" by Calvin Johnson, "One More Time" by Salty Miller, "Wrap Myself Up In Your Love" by Jim Spencer, "Never Gonna Let You Go" by Michael Miglio, "Please Analyze" by AJ Loria, "Sailing" by Gary Marks, "To Be Lonely" by Country Comfort, and "Back To The Streets" by Rudy Norman. CD

One of the few 70s albums as a leader from reedman Ronnie Cuber – a player who'd already been making some great appearances on studio sessions with giants like George Benson, Mongo Santamria, and Lonnie Smith – as well as even a few Steely Dan records! But despite that ability to sound tight in the studio, Ronnie really shows a completely different side of his talents here – a hard-burning approach to baritone sax, with a deftness that rivals Pepper Adams in a similar setting – a quality that almost feels like a tenor at times, given Cuber's dexterity and speed of improvisation. The rest of the group's great, too – and includes Barry Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Albert Heath on drums – who really provide the right amount of soulful hardbop to keep things crackling. Titles include "Star Eyes", "Rifftide", "Tin Tin Deo", "Samba D'Orfeo", "Misty", "Sudwest Funk", and "Prince Albert". CD

A surprisingly nice album from the better half of Steely Dan! This one kind of got cut out immediately when it was issued in 1993, but it's got a heck of a lot of charm – and given the success and style of the re-formed Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, this one sounds pretty great when we look back over our shoulder. And oddly, it's got some nice little modern soul arrangements that struck a strong note with the soul underground – and we can testify to the fact that the record was selling big with the stepper's scene in Chicago, even when it was stiffing in the pop racks elsewhere! Nothing fancy, but there's some nice moments, and with Walter Becker doing the production, it's kind of a Steely Dan album anyway. Titles include "Trans Island Skyway", "Countermoon", "Tomorrow's Girls", "On The Dunes", and "Snowbound". CD

The group's first, with production courtesy the great Gary Katz, who's put a fine touch on many Steely Dan LPs. While we were a bit dismissive of this effort at the time, it's kind of become a bit of a watershed in retrospect, the high water mark for the American Acid Jazz scene, if a bit commercial, and definitely a nice portrait of the mid 90s NYC scene, with loads of great players from all over the spectrum. Titles include "El Gollpe Avisa", "Buddah Head", "Nerd", "Balimka", "Rentstrike", and "Saturday Afternoon". CD

This is perhaps THE masterpiece of indie/alterna-/punk/whatever from the 80s. 2 LPs worth of jazzy existential punk from guys who weren't afraid to admit that they liked Steely Dan, Van Halen, Blue Oyster Cult, or CCR. This record has affected many a life. CD

A real gem from guitarist Larry Carlton – a set that's very jazzy, but which also shows the strong focus he'd developed on his rock session work in the 70s – including some famous recordings with Steely Dan! There's a sharpness to Carlton's guitar that cuts through some of the sleepier modes of fusion players of the time – a style that's right out front, able to solo with a great sense of voice, but also no cheesier sounds as well – very appealing to fans of 70s guitar fusion, and Carlton's great blend of soulful undercurrents as well. Titles include "Sleepwalk", "Last Night", "Blues Bird", "Upper Kern", "10:00pm", and "You Gotta Get It While You Can". CD

One of our favorite records of all time! We've got to admit, this one's an acquired taste, but if you dig cool LA studio pop from the early 70's, this record's a real treasure! Nick DeCaro was probably best known to the world as an instrumental arranger for A&M (he did a lot of the Claudine Longet albums), but this record from the early 70's has him singing in a set of cool spacey tracks that mix studio pop and jazz for a sound that's unlike anything else we've ever heard before. Nick's backed by a tight group that includes LA jazz players like Arthur Adams, Wilton Felder, Paul Humphrey, Harvey Mason, and David T. Walker – and the sound is very compressed, very laidback, and very very hip. Tracks include "Under The Jamaican Moon", "Wailing Wall", and great versions of "Getting Mighty Crowded" and Stevie Wonder's "Angie Girl". Remember, it's an acquired taste, but if you like stuff like middle period Steely Dan or Maria Muldaur, you'll really dig this one! CD

Fagen returns to wrestle with mortality and his own significance on Morph The Cat – his best solo work since Nightfly – and overall a stronger album than Steely Dan's previous effort! We can't pinpoint exactly what makes this one of the better Dan-related efforts off the 00s, but we think it just might be Fagen's tendency to let the tracks on Morph The Cat roll on and groove for a while. (If memory serves, Dan's Everything Must Go was a more tightly punctuated affair.) The keyboards are really rich this time out, propelled by smooth, soulful bass, and the incredibly clean and beautiful sound so necessary to stand behind the man's sardonic, somehow pleasantly caustic wordplay. Tracks include "Morph The Cat", "H Gang", "What I Do", "Brite Nitegown", "The Great Pagoda Of Funn", "Security Joan", "The Night Belongs To Mona", "Mary Shut The Garden Door" and "Morph The Cat (Reprise)". CD

Kanye's tightest, most heavily synth soaked set yet – and possibly the best – a leap ahead for his evolving sound! Graduation gleams and shines more than it bounces on the bottom end, and if his LP titles to date overtly suggest that this caps off a trilogy – it really goes beyond the title – it's POST Graduation! By the end of Late Registration Kanye was dabbling in hip hop symphonies (for the better) with a few too many skits, but this one's all laser beam efficiency with a human heartbeat. Kanye's moved on, well past our expectations anyway, and he better not call the next one Class Reunion. A bunch of these cuts could rule several radio formats, and they sound great in the headphones, too. To tell the truth, any modern hip hop record with a big fat (and surely expensive) Steely Dan sample is going get an automatic recommendation from us, but Graduation works for us for many more reasons than that alone. Well done, Kanye! "Good Morning", "Champion", the Daft Punk-ed hit "Stronger", "I Wonder", "Good Life", "Can't Tell Me Me Nothing", "Barry Bonds" with Lil Wayne, "Drunk And Hot Girls" with Mos Def, "Flashing Lights" with Dwele, "Everything I Am" with DJ Premier, "Homecoming" and "Big Brother". CD

Late work by Thin Lizzy – but one of our favorite albums by the group! Somehow, this set manages to capture all the great magic that made us love Jailbreak so much – still hard rocking, but with a deft sense of time and chord change that also reminds us a lot of Steely Dan at their best. Phil Lynott's vocals are as great and smoky as ever, and tracks include "Renegade", "Mexican Blood", "Fats", "Leave This Town", "It's Getting Dangerous", and "The Pressure Will Blow". CD

A great reissue of Gary Wilson's self-produced album from the late 70s – a sly blend of styles that is accurately described in the notes as "equal parts Steely Dan, James Brown, and David Lynch." The record's got a strange at-home feel – almost as if Jandek wanted to record a soul album, and called in some new wave producer to make the whole thing fit together. The tunes are quite strange at times, a little bit noisy at others, but mostly honest attempts at soulful vocals, with almost a naive quality that offsets Wilson's occasional anger. Titles include "When You Walk Into My Dreams", "You Keep On Looking", "Another Time I Could Have Loved You", "Chromium Bitch", "I Wanna Lose Control", and "Groovy Girls Make Love At The Beach". Very nicely redone – with a booklet with lots of notes on the material! CD

A collision of generations – as giants of the world of 70s and 80s AOR come together to pay tribute to the soulful styles of the years before! At the time, the album was the sort that really made us cringe – since we were such soul purists back in the 90s – but over the years, we've really come to accept the whole thing both as a well-meaning effort, and more importantly, as a lost chapter of the Donald Fagan/Steely Dan genius – as Fagan produced the set, and really brings a lot of his older music into play! Other artists include Boz Scaggs, Phoebe Snow, and Michael McDonald – but the set also features work from older bluesman Charles Brown – and titles include remakes of "Madison Time", "Knock On Wood", "Shakey Ground", "Lonely Teardrops", "Downing In The Sea Of Love", "Groovin", and "People Got To Be Free" – plus nice takes on "Chain Lightning", "Pretzel Logic", and "Green Flower Street". CD

Collects solo material plus work with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Gil Evans, Miles Davis, Weather Report, Milton Nascimento, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, JJ Johnson, and Herbie Hancock! CD