Aja (album): Difference between revisions

*[[Blueblue-eyed soul|white soul]]

'''''Aja''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|ʒ|ə}}, pronounced "[[Asia]]") is the sixth [[studio album]] by the American [[Jazz fusion#Jazz rock|jazz rock]] band [[Steely Dan]], released on September 23, 1977, by [[ABC Records]] on September 23, 1977. On the album, band leaders [[Donald Fagen]] and [[Walter Becker]] pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements.

The album peaked at number three on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape]] chart, and number five on the [[UK Albums Chart]], ultimately becoming Steely Dan's most commercially successful release. It spawned the hit singles "[[Peg (song)|Peg]]", "[[Deacon Blues]]", and "[[Josie (Steely Dan song)|Josie]]". At the [[20th Annual Grammy Awards]], ''Aja'' won [[Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical|Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical]], and was nominated for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals|Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals]]. It has appeared on many retrospective "greatest albums" lists, with critics and [[audiophile]]s applauding the album's high production quality. In 2010, the album was added to the [[National Recording Registry]] by [[Library of Congress]] for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The album was produced by Steely Dan's longtime producer [[Gary Katz]],<ref name="Crowe">{{cite magazine | last=Crowe | first=Cameron | date=December 29, 1977 | title=Steely Dan Springs Back: The Second Coming | magazine=Rolling Stone | publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. | location=New York City | issue=#255 | page=11 | url=http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/rs255-steely-dan/ | access-date=October 27, 2011}}</ref> andengineered theirby longtime master engineer [[Roger Nichols (recording engineer)|Roger Nichols]], and features contributions from numerous leading [[session musicians]]. The eight-minute-long [[Aja (song)|title track]] features a jazz-based [[chord progression]] and a solo by saxophonist [[Wayne Shorter]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cook-Wilson |first1=Winston |title=Steely Dan's Aja: Remembering the Band's Trailblazing Moment 40 Years Later |url=https://www.spin.com/featured/steely-dan-aja-40-year-anniversary-essay |website=SPIN |access-date=2019-07-25 |date=2017-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.jazzwax.com/2011/07/how-steely-dan-got-wayne-shorter.html | title = How Steely Dan Got Wayne Shorter | work = Jazz Wax| date = 2011-07-15 | first = Marc | last = Myers }}</ref> Co-composer and co-band leader [[Walter Becker]] did not perform on the tracks "Black Cow" or "[[Peg (song)|Peg]]".

With Azoff's connections with record stores and the album being offered at a discounted price, ''Aja'' became, according to [[Cameron Crowe]] in the December 1977 issue of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', "one of the season's hottest albums and by far Steely Dan's fastest-selling ever."<ref name="Crowe"/> It reached the top five of the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape]] chart within three weeks of its release,<ref name="billboard"/> and it ultimately peaked at number three, becoming the band's highest-charting album in the United States. The album was also the group's highest-charting album in the UK, reaching number five on the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="mojo"/> According to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', ''Aja'' was Steely Dan's biggest hit and was one of the first albums to be certifiedgiven the then-new [[RIAA certification|Platinum]] certiication by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) for one million US sales.<ref name="billboard">{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/280446/steely-dan/biography |title=Steely Dan Biography |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=n.d. |access-date=September 23, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923070748/https://www.billboard.com/artist/280446/steely-dan/biography|archive-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref>

Attempts to make a [[5.1 surround sound|surround-sound]] mix of the album for a release in the late 1990s were scrapped when it was discovered that the [[multitrack recording|multitrack]] masters for both "Black Cow" and the title track were missing. [[Universal Music]] canceled plans to release a multichannel [[Super Audio CD|SACD]] version of the album for the same reason. In the liner notes for the 1999 remastered reissue of the album, Fagen and Becker offered a $600 reward for the missing masters or any information that leadswould lead to their recovery.<ref name = "broberg">{{cite web | title= Aja notes | url=http://www.broberg.pp.se/sd_aja.htm |access-date= 2009-05-13 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090505185404/http://www.broberg.pp.se/sd_aja.htm | archive-date= 2009-05-05 | url-status= live | first = Tomas | last = Broberg | work = Tribute To Steely Dan - Steely Dan Interzone}}</ref>

|rev2Score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="Kot">{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=August 16, 1992|url=httphttps://articleswww.chicagotribune.com/1992-/08-/16/entertainment/9203140079_1_starthrills-steelyscams-danand-katy-liednightflys/|title=Thrills, Scams and Nightflys|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=February 15, 2017}}</ref>

Jazz historian Ted Gioia has cited ''Aja'' as an example of Steely Dan "proving that pop-rock could equally benefit from a healthy dose of jazz" during their original tenure, which coincided with a period when rock musicians were frequently experimenting with jazz idioms and techniques.<ref>{{cite book|page=332|last=Gioia|first=Ted|year=2011|title=The History of Jazz|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780199831876}}</ref> [[Amanda Petrusich]] wrote in ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' that the album is "as much a jazz record as a pop one",<ref name="p4k"/> while [[Ben Ratliff]] from ''[[The New York Times]]'' said it "created a new standard for the relationship between jazz and rock, one that was basically irreproducible, by Steely Dan or anyone else […...] a progressive jazz record with backbeats, a '70s hipster's extension of what had been [[Gil Evans]]'s vision two decades earlier."<ref>{{cite news|last=Ratliff|first=Ben|authorlink=Ben Ratliff|date=July 29, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/arts/music/30steely.html|title=Cool Blast of the '70s, With LPs Spinning|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=May 19, 2021}}</ref> In [[Dylan Jones]]' list of the best jazz albums for ''[[GQ]]'', ''Aja'' ranked number 62.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Dylan|authorlink=Dylan Jones|date=August 25, 2019|url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/best-jazz-albums|title=The 100 best jazz albums you need in your collection|website=[[GQ]]|accessdate=May 19, 2021}}</ref>

''Aja'' has appeared on retrospective "greatest albums" lists. In 1991, France's ''[[Rock & Folk]]'' included it on a list of the 250 best albums released since 1966, when the magazine began publication.{{CN|date=December 2023}} In 1999, the album was ranked number 59 on the national Israeli newspaper ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]''{{'}}s "Top 99 Albums of All Time" list.{{CN|date=December 2023}} In 2000, ''Aja'' was voted number 118 in the third edition of [[Colin Larkin]]'s book ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'', where the author noted its "brand of jazz-influenced [[blue-eyed soul|white soul]]".<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=All Time Top 1000 Albums|author=Colin Larkin|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=80|title-link=All Time Top 1000 Albums|author-link=Colin Larkin}}</ref> In 2003, the album was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] and ranked number 145 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s list of the "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]";<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#a |title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame |publisher=grammy.org |access-date=2017-05-24}}</ref> it maintained the same spot on the 2012 update of the list,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/steely-dan-aja-163861/|year=2012| title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time| publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]| access-date= September 18, 2019}}</ref> and rose to number 63 on the 2020 version. In 2006, ''Aja'' was included in the book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert Dimery|author2=Michael Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=7 February 2006|publisher=Universe|isbn=0-7893-1371-5}}</ref> In 2010, the album was recognized by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or artisticallyaesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the [[National Recording Registry]]; the same year, [[De La Soul]]'s 1989 debut album ''[[3 Feet High and Rising]]'', which sampled ''Aja'', was also added to the Registry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/recording-registry/complete-national-recording-registry-listing/ |title=Complete National Recording Registry Listing – National Recording Preservation Board &#124; Programs &#124; Library of Congress |publisher=Loc.gov |access-date=November 8, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2010reg.html|title=About This Program – National Recording Preservation Board|website=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=October 4, 2017}}</ref>

Discussing the sound of the album, [[Andy Gill]] says: "Jazz-rock was a fundamental part of the 70s musical landscape […...] [Steely Dan] wasn't rock or pop music with ideas above its station, and it wasn't jazzers slumming […...] it was a very well-forged alloy of the two – you couldn't separate the pop music from the jazz in their music." On the same topic, British musician [[Ian Dury]] says he hears elements of legendary jazz musicians like [[Charlie Parker]], [[Charles Mingus]], and [[Art Blakey]] on the album. He continues: "Well, ''Aja''{{'}}s got a sound that lifts your heart up, and it's the most consistent up-full, heart-warming […...] even though, it is a classic LA kinda sound. You wouldn't think it was recorded anywhere else in the world. It's got California through its blood, even though they are boys from New York […...] They've got a skill that can make images that aren't puerile and don't make you think you've heard it before […...] very 'Hollywood filmic' in a way, the imagery is very imaginable, in a visual sense."<ref name=Lewins>''Classic Albums: Steely Dan – Aja'' (Video 1999), Directed by Alan Lewins, Eagle Rock Entertainment, ASIN: 6305772649 [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268225/]</ref>

In retrospective appraisals, ''Aja'' has been discussed by music journalists as an important release in the development of [[yacht rock]]. In an article for ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' in 2009, [[Chuck Eddy]] listed it among the genre's eight essential albums.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Eddy|first=Chuck|date=January 1, 2009|url=https://www.spin.com/2009/01/yacht-rock/|title=8 Essential Yacht Rock Albums|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|access-date=June 8, 2020}}</ref> Writing for ''uDiscoverMusic'' in 2019, Paul Sexton said that, with the album, Steely Dan "announced their ever-greater exploration of jazz influences", which would lead to "their yacht-rock masterpiece": 1980's ''[[Gaucho (album)|Gaucho]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sexton|first=Paul|date=September 17, 2019|url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/yacht-rock-history/|title=Yacht Rock: A Boatload Of Guilty Pleasures|magazine=uDiscoverMusic|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> Patrick Hosken of [[MTV News]] said that both ''Aja'' and ''Gaucho'' show how "great yacht rock is also more musically ambitious than it might seem, tying [[blue-eyed soul]] and jazz to funk and R&B".<ref>{{cite news|last=Hosken|first=Patrick|date=February 7, 2017|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2979002/thundercat-yacht-rock-revival-2017/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207231027/http://www.mtv.com/news/2979002/thundercat-yacht-rock-revival-2017/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 7, 2017|title=Are We in the Middle of a Yacht-Rock Revival|work=[[MTV News]]|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> ''Aja'' was included in ''Vinyl Me, Please'' magazine's list of "The 10 Best Yacht Rock Albums to Own on Vinyl", with an accompanying essay that said: "Steely Dan's importance to yacht rock can't be overstated. […...] Arguably the Dan is smoothest on the 1980 smash ''Gaucho'', but ''Aja'' finds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen comfortably hitting a middle-ground stride […...] as a mainstream hit factory while remaining expansive and adventurous".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Malcolm|first=Timothy|date=February 20, 2017|url=http://www.vinylmeplease.com/magazine/10-best-yacht-rock-albums-own-vinyl/|title=The 10 Best Yacht Rock Albums To Own On Vinyl|magazine=Vinyl Me, Please|access-date=October 31, 2019}}</ref> John Lawler of ''Something Else!'' wrote that "The song and performance that best exemplifies the half-time, funky, laid (way) back in the beat shuffle within the jazz-pop environment of the mid- to late- 70s can be found on 'Home at Last.' [[Bernard Purdie|Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie]] feeds off [[Chuck Rainey]]'s bass with righteous grooves and masterful off-beat fills with alacrity in this tight band favorite."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/11/30/best-steely-dan-drumming-performances-steely-dan-sunday/ |title=Best Steely Dan drumming performances: Steely Dan Sunday |publisher=somethingelsereviews.com |date=November 20, 2014 |access-date=October 4, 2017}}</ref>

#*[[Paul Humphrey (American musician)|Paul Humphrey]] – drums

#*[[Victor Feldman]] – [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes piano]]

#*Joe Sample – Fender Rhodes piano

#*Victor Feldman – percussion, [[marimba]]

#"[[Deacon Blues]]"

#*Victor Feldman – Fender Rhodes piano

#*[[Dean Parks]] -– acoustic guitar<ref>Interview with Dean Parks, approximately minute 15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4HTtEqPqaM&t=824s</ref>

#<li value="4">*"[[Peg (song)|Peg]]"

#*[[Paul Griffin (musician)|Paul Griffin]] – Fender Rhodes piano, backing vocals

#*Victor Feldman, [[Gary L. Coleman|Gary Coleman]] – percussion

#"[[Josie (Steely Dan song)|Josie]]"

#*Victor Feldman – Fender Rhodes piano