I'm named after the Aja song/album. It's nice to listen to an interview about the origin of the name and the song. . .I feel kinda connected to it ^_^ (Cheesy I know lol) It also makes me glad that my parents named me 'Aja' instead of 'Peg' LOL X-P
Just saw Steely Dan at the Met in Philadelphia! My son had purchased these tickets for us for my Birthday back in March. (When our son was two years old he use to run around singing Babylon Sisters shake it ! Over and over ! Even when the song wasn’t playing !😜 ) The show was a fantastic experience in a more intimate venue which only made the experience even more special ! My hubby is a musician and I have NEVER seen him act like a fan at ANY concert, but he did on Friday Night at the show ! Kudos Donald on a beautiful performance ! BRAVA !!!! RIP Walter Becker !
Lucky to have seen Becker and Fagen live in Auckland NZ in Nov 2011. RIP Walter Becker. And then Larry Carlton came along to do a gig in NZ in 2014/15(?). Possibly the best band in terms of complexity of the music and the precision of sound
Amazing how people remember events completely differently. Regarding getting Wayne Shorter to play on the record Donald & Walter said "It took a while to persuade him... he didn't do dates. I think he felt we would be asking him to do something that was not appropriate..." and Wayne Shorter said "I was invited to play on the record. It was quite matter of fact I said yes".
The impression I get from this was that it was a much bigger deal for Mr. Becker than it was for Mr. Shorter, haha! Just another day at the 'office' for him, I suppose. That was a fun memory from both of them.
It stays the same ....the way it touched me 1977 as i heard it the first time after i bought it on vinyl did not change: Deacon Blues and Aja still bring tears to my eyes and for me I felled and still feel a perfect harmony between words and music as I never heard before or afterwards ... this won´t change and my daughter already knows that these two tunes are to be played on my burial!! I can´t thank Michael Becker, Donald Fagen and all the supporting musicians enough!!
This album came out just in time to restore our faith in not just music but, well, everything that exist at that time. Remember disco was at its highlight and this one album, this one bright shinning star showed us the light out of the rabbit hole. No bring me another black cow!
Very revealing from Mr. Shorter on what it was like to work with Miles. I know that's not the subject of this video, but it's great to hear those little tidbits in unexpected places.
it's a total snub of Gadd . . it's like standing in the louvre . . . next to the mona lisa . . and saying . . yeah, this frame is one of our best. it really shines nicely, and fits perfectly around the picture in the middle. // in addition to the fact, that it is a great story . . . how they tried every drummer in town, and gadd came in and nailed it in one take.
They DID have drummers come in but were not happy with the results. Steve Gadd came in and according to him "there was dead silence and I thought I blew it completely. They had me play it again but ended up with my first take." Steve Gadd nailed it on the first try and that's what you hear on the record.
Phil Woods nailed his sax solo on "Dr Wu" on the first take also. I heard him talk about it at a workshop. He said it was the easiest money he ever made.
Glad someone else noticed it. :-) It was signature Gadd just about everywhere, particularly at the end. I think they were just talking about the making of the song, not necessarily about the guys on the date, apart from Shorter.
Steve Gadd is the reason I discovered the album Aja. It's disappointing that he's not mentioned at all when his musicianship stands out so distinctly on the album.
To be bluntly honest, the album had nothing to do with Steve Gadd! Though one of the best drummers in the world and an impeccable performance, this song was all about the the genius of Fagen and Becker! There were probably at least 2 or 3 drummers during this time period that could have pulled this off, though each would have sounded different, the song no doubt would have passed the test of time and no one would have known!
I believe you when you say they don't do it in this documentary, which is a crime! But somewhere I saw they talked about him coming in and how he was doing very refreshing things at the time on drums and how he played the first take and they were just like "yeah... let's use that." Which for those guys is like the equivalent of being blown away but they're so damn understated they would never say it. Pretty sure that was the only time, ever, that anyone did something they liked and used in the first 40 takes, lol.
I love this song and especially love playing it on the piano but I can't believe there was no mention of Steve Gadd. He is one of the greatest things about this tune!
@Svettjodd He's saying just come in, play the part and split. Don't sit around and talk about the wife, family and kids. Old school jazz philosophy. Keep quiet and let your instrument do the talking. That's the way I take it.
@NickDuvet Alfred Newman was a fixure in Hollywood for decades working on over 250 films and scores. It is possible that he made the quote, but he died in 1970. The other possibility is Randy's other uncle Lionel Newman, who worked at Fox TV for years. The Newman clan are music royalty in California, Randy's cousin is Thomas Newman who scored American Beauty, and his other cousin is David Newman who worked a lot with Devito. There is an uncle Emil too, and a Maria who plays Violin. Amazing genes
Wayne Shorter , look closer at this guy ,he's acted . He's from Newark NJ . He's done acting and he's good too ,another minor actor who makes movies. He's been in a couple where he had far more than a minor role and he added a lot to the film. he can act , very convincing . Great Musician and a good actor and surely if he was given a leading part , doubt he would blow it , he's not petty , he feels his parts , also never over acts.
@Svettjodd Don't forget who lives in his neighborhood. Jaco, Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, and many others who Wayne Shorter worked and recorded with basically invented what Steely Dan was doing in the studio. Not to take anything away from Aja, it is a fantastic album. But I think Wayne Shorter has earned his right to be a bit nonchalant about a solo recorded during one specific studio session in the 70s.
Hello, Steve Gadd is the only artist who you think is snubbed? What about Wayne Shorter, of the Miles Davis second quintet and Weather Report? This song was my answer to my jazz snob friends who called the Dan "lounge music for stoners."
@NickDuvet The Dan used multiple takes in deciding which drum style they liked. My friend, Jim Keltner, told me he believes he did a take on "Peg", but they didn't use it. The charts (Josie was 6 pages long! amazing to have a written out part for drums on a rock session)) had only numbers for the ID of the tunes, so Jim wasn't sure what other tunes he submitted takes for. Anyway, one of the hits was one he was on--"Josie". Not bad for one tune on this epic recording!
A masterpiece. I love every second of it. Just a couple of idle wishes; David Palmer retained on vocals and someone like George Benson for the guitar solo.
It's interesting that Shorter says he just laid down his solo, because I read in an interview a long time ago he wrote out the chord scales for all the changes first.
This song is known among musicians - drummers in particular - for the legendary performance of Steve Gadd. I expected most of the video to be about that performance (with all due respect to legends like Wayne Shorter). Instead ... crickets. Disappointing to say the least.
I've just watched it again and at 3:40, Fagen says "..and we also brought in Wayne Shorter...." It is possible that just before that, they had been talking about Steve Gadd. I just can't believe they would not have commented at all on the drum track.
This clip just scratches the surface, so I can't see why it's assumed it's complete and that anyone was snubbed with so much not included to begin with. It's just a taste, while a half-hour of discussion on this piece would begin to do it justice.
Good to see Denny Dias still playing (Valley Arts Custom Pro in his hands?) and looking healthy. But yeah, my guess is they didn't really have the time to discuss every facet of the song and it would have been nice to give Steve a mention although Wayne's solo really gave the song a special resonance.
Wonder if Steve Gadd was touring at the time this was filmed? Wonder if Steve declined to be interviewed? I don't think we can just automatically say that the makers of this documentary intentionally didn't want Gadd interviewed. I think Donald & Walter should've talked about how the basic tracks were cut in one take. That's almost unheard of when it comes to a Steely Dan recording.
steely dan had never used steve gadd before. he came into the studio sight read the music and then they did two perfect takes. the first take is part 1 of the song, then the bridge and take 2 was part 2 of aja. Gadd then left and went on to the next studio.
Yes, Keltner really nailed that one. They obviously felt Rick Marotta produced the goods on Peg, and of course it's hard to imagine anyone else coming close to what Steve Gadd did on Aja. The other drums tracks are probably still there, to judge from the way they were able to bring up the various other guitarists who tried the solo on Peg.
I always found the fact that Steve Gadd wasn't mentioned when discussing this song, or indeed in the whole documentary, to be quite bizarre. Of course at the time the documentary was made Gadd was probably busy recording or touring; that's quite probable, so he may not have been available in person to be interviewed. However that shouldn't have stopped Walter or Donald at least mentioning his contribution. Its very odd.....
RE: Steve Gadd - there was an interview in the now-defunct Musician Magazine (published by Billboard) that states Jeff Porcaro came in one night, listened to it once, and then nailed it, because Gadd couldn't. Have to go dig up that issue now...
I think what Wayne Shorter was saying is that just let it all hang out and play, where as the Dan guys came from a background of, eveything is regimented. Charts, solo's, whatever.
I know, how can they not mention Gadd? The drumming on the song Aja is my favorite part of the song and the album. Maybe this youtube clip doesn't show the whole thing.
If they had mentioned Steve Gadd, it would have been included the documentary. ABSOLUTE JOKE that the sax player is being interviewed and highlighted while perhaps the greatest drum solo in the history of popular music is being played in the background. And not a peep from Becker or Fagan.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
RIP Wayne Shorter, true saxophone genius
Walter Becker, Rest in Peace. Forever grateful for your music.
Anne Kornfeld He was every bit Fagens equal. I’ve always thought Fagen got a bit more credit but Walters Bass and Guitar parts were pivotal.
Fagan was the voice but Walter and Fagen are the Heart and Soul of Stelly Dan
I love hearing old jazz guys talk. they drop so much wisdom and if you aren't listening you might miss it.
Wayne Shorter, you'll be missed. RIP.
I had this album on cassette on a drive from St. Louis to Omaha, Nebraska. One of the best drives of my life.
did you break the tape?
I'm named after the Aja song/album. It's nice to listen to an interview about the origin of the name and the song. . .I feel kinda connected to it ^_^ (Cheesy I know lol) It also makes me glad that my parents named me 'Aja' instead of 'Peg' LOL X-P
Aja Christian
How about Josie?
@ American born, I'm from Chicago. And thanks 😊
Great name!!!
I'm laughing so hard at this comment cuz while I think Aja is a beautiful name and song, my favorite song from this album happens to be Peg! Cheers!
THEY WANTED A BOY
Just saw Steely Dan at the Met in Philadelphia! My son had purchased these tickets for us for my Birthday back in March. (When our son was two years old he use to run around singing Babylon Sisters shake it ! Over and over ! Even when the song wasn’t playing !😜 ) The show was a fantastic experience in a more intimate venue which only made the experience even more special ! My hubby is a musician and I have NEVER seen him act like a fan at ANY concert, but he did on Friday Night at the show ! Kudos Donald on a beautiful performance ! BRAVA !!!! RIP Walter Becker !
one of the best albums in history of music....
Fagen & Becker exude epic creativity....Jazz Fusion never looked so good! Their work is unprecedented in the most stellar proportions of sound!
Ian Dury and The Blockheads
HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK!!!!
One of the All-Time GREATEST pieces of work in music history by two of the BEST musicians of All-Time.
think about it... these guys look like the 3rd shift managers at a walmart or something and then you realize they are MUSICAL GENIUSES
What is a musical genius supposed to look like?
Maybe this explains the department store jazz/rock musical theme to Aja.
Just a peaceful jazzy funky music misappropriated muzak via weather channels and off peg grocery chains
How do you look like?
😂 That was a bit harsh, man! Funny, though... I think they'd get it and dig it
Rise In Power Wayne Shorter
🙌🎷🙏
please....Shorter's solo is nothing but magnificent. A true living legend
Really nice to see Denny Dias speaking. First time I've seen that.
It is amazing that Wayne Shorter is on this record. One of the greatest and most original musicians of all time.
Lucky to have seen Becker and Fagen live in Auckland NZ in Nov 2011. RIP Walter Becker. And then Larry Carlton came along to do a gig in NZ in 2014/15(?). Possibly the best band in terms of complexity of the music and the precision of sound
I remember the day this LP was released. I was very impressed. The words, especially AJA and Dime Dancing! Blown away!
Amazing how people remember events completely differently. Regarding getting Wayne Shorter to play on the record Donald & Walter said "It took a while to persuade him... he didn't do dates. I think he felt we would be asking him to do something that was not appropriate..."
and Wayne Shorter said "I was invited to play on the record. It was quite matter of fact I said yes".
The impression I get from this was that it was a much bigger deal for Mr. Becker than it was for Mr. Shorter, haha! Just another day at the 'office' for him, I suppose. That was a fun memory from both of them.
It stays the same ....the way it touched me 1977 as i heard it the first time after i bought it on vinyl did not change: Deacon Blues and Aja still bring tears to my eyes and for me I felled and still feel a perfect harmony between words and music as I never heard before or afterwards ... this won´t change and my daughter already knows that these two tunes are to be played on my burial!! I can´t thank Michael Becker, Donald Fagen and all the supporting musicians enough!!
+lekkerebek Sorry - WALTER Becker of course!! :-D
RIP Wayne Shorter
This album came out just in time to restore our faith in not just music but, well, everything that exist at that time. Remember disco was at its highlight and this one album, this one bright shinning star showed us the light out of the rabbit hole. No bring me another black cow!
One of the best albums ever
Very revealing from Mr. Shorter on what it was like to work with Miles. I know that's not the subject of this video, but it's great to hear those little tidbits in unexpected places.
Such a beautiful album. Truly magnificent.
@dennydias-id5jh Thankyou!🤯 They weren't compliments though. They were facts. 😉
This song is so beautiful
Doesn’t get any better than this.
it's a total snub of Gadd . . it's like standing in the louvre . . . next to the mona lisa . . and saying . . yeah, this frame is one of our best. it really shines nicely, and fits perfectly around the picture in the middle. // in addition to the fact, that it is a great story . . . how they tried every drummer in town, and gadd came in and nailed it in one take.
They DID have drummers come in but were not happy with the results. Steve Gadd came in and according to him "there was dead silence and I thought I blew it completely. They had me play it again but ended up with my first take." Steve Gadd nailed it on the first try and that's what you hear on the record.
Phil Woods nailed his sax solo on "Dr Wu" on the first take also. I heard him talk about it at a workshop. He said it was the easiest money he ever made.
Love Steely Dan. However Aja is my FAVORITE!! Is at the TOP of my list. Thank you.
+Hilary Lewis I keep swimming between Aja and Gaucho...and Royal Scam...(excluding honorable mentions like: Katie Lied...)
Bright people have much the same opinions. Thank you for commenting. HAL
+Steelyard never heard of the others than SD thanks ill chk them out ! appreciate it a lot!
Thank you for the post. It's always great to hear about Steely Dan.
This is the definitive album of all time past, present and future. Have the best day ever! :)
One of the greatest albums in my lifetime. The entire album . . . " Is a Vibe " oNe LovE from NYC
A great video...Fagen and Becker being themselves...very talented dudes!
Glad someone else noticed it. :-)
It was signature Gadd just about everywhere, particularly at the end. I think they were just talking about the making of the song, not necessarily about the guys on the date, apart from Shorter.
One of the most interesting and beautiful compositions in music history. Yet not even a mention of Steve Gadd - incomprehensible.
Still my favorite Steely Dan composition.
"I can 'ear Blakey...I can 'ear Jazz Messangers in there" 3:27
absolute genius--What a time!
"We were feeling lucky that year..."
I love the dry wit of these guys.
This is a great DVD, by the way, do get it if you can.
Wow Wayne Shorter. A fucking jazz legend on this record. I love "Aja". Probably one of my favorite records of all time :D
I was thinking the same thing...wanted to hear about Gadd coming in and nailing it right away.
I never knew Wayne Shorter played with Steely Dan! Two of favorites!
Their greatest album out of so many superb discs. A masterpiece.
Music engineered by aficionados... I can totally feel the passion through all the studio musicians and complex arrangements. //read in monotone
gee I wish someone would come here and whine and cry about steve gadd not being mentioned, because 500 times just isn't enough.
Steve Gadd is the reason I discovered the album Aja. It's disappointing that he's not mentioned at all when his musicianship stands out so distinctly on the album.
To be bluntly honest, the album had nothing to do with Steve Gadd! Though one of the best drummers in the world and an impeccable performance, this song was all about the the genius of Fagen and Becker! There were probably at least 2 or 3 drummers during this time period that could have pulled this off, though each would have sounded different, the song no doubt would have passed the test of time and no one would have known!
Steve Gadd - the king
I don't understand how one could possibly make a "The making of,..." Aja"" and not mention Steve Gadd?
Steve Gadd is mentioned prominently in the section on "Peg."
I've seen the whole documentary and they don't ever mention Steve Gadd.
Anyway he doesn't play drums on "Peg", only on "Aja".
You're right. My bad. It was Rick Marotta was the drummer on "Peg" and was interviewed and featured.
Paul Anglin, Jr. Ya, possibly
I believe you when you say they don't do it in this documentary, which is a crime! But somewhere I saw they talked about him coming in and how he was doing very refreshing things at the time on drums and how he played the first take and they were just like "yeah... let's use that." Which for those guys is like the equivalent of being blown away but they're so damn understated they would never say it. Pretty sure that was the only time, ever, that anyone did something they liked and used in the first 40 takes, lol.
I love this song and especially love playing it on the piano but I can't believe there was no mention of Steve Gadd. He is one of the greatest things about this tune!
couldn't agree more......
The album cover photography is dope af!
Chuck Rainey=Bass GOD
@Svettjodd He's saying just come in, play the part and split. Don't sit around and talk about the wife, family and kids. Old school jazz philosophy. Keep quiet and let your instrument do the talking. That's the way I take it.
Great song!
@lolosixfoe I too was shocked when I bought this video and there was no mention of Gadd.
yea, this DVD is top notch...very informative. Gives a little insight into the minds of these wizards
It's a travesty they didn't talk about the incredible, iconic drumming of the great Steve Gadd on this song. 😏
love all the background on the background...to moles
@lolosixfoe i know - I was soo disappointed that Gadd did not appear in this and tell everybody that the stick hit was ON PURPOSE
@NickDuvet Alfred Newman was a fixure in Hollywood for decades working on over 250 films and scores. It is possible that he made the quote, but he died in 1970. The other possibility is Randy's other uncle Lionel Newman, who worked at Fox TV for years. The Newman clan are music royalty in California, Randy's cousin is Thomas Newman who scored American Beauty, and his other cousin is David Newman who worked a lot with Devito. There is an uncle Emil too, and a Maria who plays Violin. Amazing genes
Killer band
This song is sweet.
So Aja was a real person. WHERE IS SHE TODAY?? Has anyone ever tried to find her?
Wayne Shorter , look closer at this guy ,he's acted . He's from Newark NJ . He's done acting and he's good too ,another minor actor who makes movies. He's been in a couple where he had far more than a minor role and he added a lot to the film. he can act , very convincing . Great Musician and a good actor and surely if he was given a leading part , doubt he would blow it , he's not petty , he feels his parts , also never over acts.
Donald and Walter could have been drawn by Matt Groening
@Svettjodd Don't forget who lives in his neighborhood. Jaco, Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, and many others who Wayne Shorter worked and recorded with basically invented what Steely Dan was doing in the studio. Not to take anything away from Aja, it is a fantastic album. But I think Wayne Shorter has earned his right to be a bit nonchalant about a solo recorded during one specific studio session in the 70s.
DR STEVE GADD!!!!
WAYNE SHORTER!!!!
NO MORE NEED BE SAID EVER!!!
Hello, Steve Gadd is the only artist who you think is snubbed? What about Wayne Shorter, of the Miles Davis second quintet and Weather Report? This song was my answer to my jazz snob friends who called the Dan "lounge music for stoners."
they seem to have forgotten to include the interview with steve gadd
@NickDuvet The Dan used multiple takes in deciding which drum style they liked. My friend, Jim Keltner, told me he believes he did a take on "Peg", but they didn't use it. The charts (Josie was 6 pages long! amazing to have a written out part for drums on a rock session)) had only numbers for the ID of the tunes, so Jim wasn't sure what other tunes he submitted takes for. Anyway, one of the hits was one he was on--"Josie". Not bad for one tune on this epic recording!
A masterpiece. I love every second of it.
Just a couple of idle wishes; David Palmer retained on vocals and someone like George Benson for the guitar solo.
Is that the actual Denny Dias of incredible Steely Dan guitar fame? If so, it’s an honour, sir.@dennydias-id5jh
This song is all Steve Gadd, got to mention him. Come on guys
not really.
It's interesting that Shorter says he just laid down his solo, because I read in an interview a long time ago he wrote out the chord scales for all the changes first.
“Akaneer” dude saying “I can hear” 😂
This song is known among musicians - drummers in particular - for the legendary performance of Steve Gadd. I expected most of the video to be about that performance (with all due respect to legends like Wayne Shorter). Instead ... crickets. Disappointing to say the least.
I've just watched it again and at 3:40, Fagen says "..and we also brought in Wayne Shorter...." It is possible that just before that, they had been talking about Steve Gadd. I just can't believe they would not have commented at all on the drum track.
This clip just scratches the surface, so I can't see why it's assumed it's complete and that anyone was snubbed with so much not included to begin with. It's just a taste, while a half-hour of discussion on this piece would begin to do it justice.
Good to see Denny Dias still playing (Valley Arts Custom Pro in his hands?) and looking healthy. But yeah, my guess is they didn't really have the time to discuss every facet of the song and it would have been nice to give Steve a mention although Wayne's solo really gave the song a special resonance.
This is one of those VH1 specials (classic albums?). Alot of the musicians were interviewed for this. Maybe Steve Gadd as well?
Wonder if Steve Gadd was touring at the time this was filmed? Wonder if Steve declined to be interviewed? I don't think we can just automatically say that the makers of this documentary intentionally didn't want Gadd interviewed. I think Donald & Walter should've talked about how the basic tracks were cut in one take. That's almost unheard of when it comes to a Steely Dan recording.
Now that is very interesting.
@ArgoLupus They give props to Wayne Shorter at 3:42.
This video was too short. Fascinating story
Cool the way Ian says "I can hear...".
uh....excuse me.....Steve Gadd????? yea, Steve Gadd, you know drummer extraordinaire.
steely dan had never used steve gadd before. he came into the studio sight read the music and then they did two perfect takes. the first take is part 1 of the song, then the bridge and take 2 was part 2 of aja. Gadd then left and went on to the next studio.
Yes, Keltner really nailed that one. They obviously felt Rick Marotta produced the goods on Peg, and of course it's hard to imagine anyone else coming close to what Steve Gadd did on Aja. The other drums tracks are probably still there, to judge from the way they were able to bring up the various other guitarists who tried the solo on Peg.
Have this DVD, big Dan Fan, but,
How do you profile the making of AJA and not mention Steve Gadd at ALL????
I always found the fact that Steve Gadd wasn't mentioned when discussing this song, or indeed in the whole documentary, to be quite bizarre. Of course at the time the documentary was made Gadd was probably busy recording or touring; that's quite probable, so he may not have been available in person to be interviewed. However that shouldn't have stopped Walter or Donald at least mentioning his contribution. Its very odd.....
240p? That's like almost flash cards. Thanks for the upload, though
RE: Steve Gadd - there was an interview in the now-defunct Musician Magazine (published by Billboard) that states Jeff Porcaro came in one night, listened to it once, and then nailed it, because Gadd couldn't. Have to go dig up that issue now...
I think what Wayne Shorter was saying is that just let it all hang out and play, where as the Dan guys came from a background of, eveything is regimented. Charts, solo's, whatever.
@lolosixfoe ... Wayne Shorter is the star. He set up Gadd's solo!
I know, how can they not mention Gadd? The drumming on the song Aja is my favorite part of the song and the album. Maybe this youtube clip doesn't show the whole thing.
dude. STEVE GADD!!
Dave Burns Can’t believe they didn’t mention him. Those drums are goddamn classic.
If they had mentioned Steve Gadd, it would have been included the documentary. ABSOLUTE JOKE that the sax player is being interviewed and highlighted while perhaps the greatest drum solo in the history of popular music is being played in the background. And not a peep from Becker or Fagan.
adam weiss1 ummmm that's Wayne Shorter... Not everything is perfect....you'll be fine.
And Bing! Your hopes are realised!
3:27 WHAT LANGUAGE IS THIS
reasonable fear..lol i would be scared shitless but that solo wayne hits is on point
Where is this? I really wanna hear it.
whats the name of this dvd?