Well, it's about fucking time.
Donald Fagen's new album "Kamakiriad," not to be confused with Boy
George's 1984 release, "Karma Chameleon," is finished, done, complete,
honest-to-God. The master tape was delivered to Warner Brothers in March and
the release is set for May 25th, 1993.
In the April 3, 1993 issue of Billboard, Fagen talked to Timothy White about
the meaning of the name "Kamakiriad."
"Kamakiri is an invented car," he said. "The word in Japanese
actually means 'praying mantis,' but a Kamakiriad would be a journey, like the
Iliad. The story takes place a few years in the future, when this guy gets this
environmentally correct car, a multiscreen magical exploration vehicle with
a bionic backseat vegetable garden."
Fagen gave some more detail on the car in the August 23, 1992 issue of The Indianapolis
Star saying, "it's a combination of high technology and organic technology.
He's in contact with a routing satellite that tells him where he's going. The
songs on the album are each stops or things he passes on the way or even thoughts
that he has on his journey. He finally ends up in a nasty little town."
Fagen elaborated to Timothy White, "It's a hero story in which this guy's
depressed and suicidal until he arrives at a place called Flytown, where he
hears this strain of music and encounters old friends that enable him to go
forward into the unknown. The songs represent his sensual adventures."
The songs, in order, are: "Trans-Island Skyway" (changed from "The
Trip"), "Counter Moon," "Springtime," "Snowbound"
(co-written with Walter), "Florida Room," "Tomorrow's Girls,"
"Dunes," and "Teahouse On The Tracks." The first single
to be released will be "Tomorrow's Girls," which is supposed to come
out 2-4 weeks before the actual album. The song is a science-fiction story about
a legion female beauties from outer space that land on the New Jersey shore
and seduce gullible earthmen. The lyrics include the lines, "They're speeding
towards our sun, they're on a party run. Here come Tomorrow's Girls." Donald
finishes off the song by singing the names of the girls, one by one. The "Tomorrow's
Girls" advance CD single will also include some bonus tracks. They are
"Shanghai Confidential" (the instrumental B-Side of "Century's
End), "Home At Last" (Live NYR&S Revue version that didn't make
the "Live At The Beacon album), and Donald's version of "Confide In
Me" (originally performed by The Manhattan Transfer on their 1991 "Offbeat
of Avenues" release).
In the Billboard article, Timothy White, who apparently has heard the album
described the music as "prime Steely Dan terrain, exuberantly batty orbit
of cabaret funk, proto jazz, sci-fi boogaloo, and hallucinatory pitstops wherein
harpies and satyrs crash an end-of-the-world rent party co-hosted by LTD and
The Ohio Players." Calling it "turnpike groove music," White
continued, "As produced by bass-playing former Steely Dan partner Walter
Becker, the album's fluctuant fantasy environment overflows with bantering horns,
beckoning female backing harmonies, and a tremulant keyboard sound that sustains
Fagen's amorphous vocals with the ease of an Eames chair."
"Metal Leg" has also heard the album and the only thing we can really
say is that "Kamakiriad" doesn't sound like anything Donald or Steely
Dan has done in the past and it is well worth the wait.
The musicians that backed up Fagen that we now know of are: Walter Becker on
bass and guitar, Georg Wadenius on guitar, Chris Parker on most drums, Denny
McDermott on drums, Cornelius Bumpus and Blue Lou Marini on saxophone, Alan
Rubin and Randy Brecker on trumpet and Catherine Russell, Mindy Jostyn, Jenni
Muldaur and Brenda White-King on backup vocals. There are a few other artists
on the album whose names we can't remember now, including a trombone player
who does some great stuff on "Teahouse On The Tracks."
Although it doesn't really matter now, the album could have been finished earlier.
Dave Smith, Director of Recording Operations for Sony told "Metal Leg"
that Donald erased most of his already-finished vocals and re-recorded them
after coming across a UM92 microphone, one of the best mics in the world. It
is a variant of the U47 microphone, manufactured in Berlin and a favorite of
Adolph Hitler, who used the U47 in most of his radio broadcasts.
If Donald's release of an album after eleven years isn't enough, how about
a Steely Dan dour, yes, billed as Steely Dan after nineteen years? We'll it's
going do happen. What made them decide to do it? Well, Mike McDonald had said
that Becker and Fagen had a great time on the New York Rock and Soul Revue tour
this past summer and were interested in doing something after Donald's album
was finished. And to confirm the dour rumors, Walter Becker told DJ Mark Drucker
on Philadelphia's WMMR, "Well, it is very flattering do hear there is that
faithful group of Dan fans out there and that the music has stood up on its
own so well after all these years. We must show our appreciation, and we're
looking forward do going out and performing live for our fans."
The first question is who will be in the band? So far, Michael McDonald (keyboard
and backup vocalist with the 1974 touring Dan), Cornelius Bumpus (saxophonist
with Doobies and NYR&S Revue 1992 Tour) and Warren Bernhardt (piano player,
has worked with numerous artists in the studio and on the road). Pat Metheny
has also been asked to join the group on guitar, but has not been confirmed
yet. Rumors also have Elliott Randall being asked to play guitar. Bass player
Tom Barney is also supposed to have been asked to play on tour. We don't know
if Walter Becker has decided whether to play bass or guitar. The strangest Steely
Dan tour rumor circulating has it that no female backup singers will tour with
the band. Again, these are only rumors and everything should shape up in the
next month or so.
The next question is what will be the tour route and what venues will they play?
The tour schedule is very sketchy right now but this is what we have:
Aug. 13-Detroit
Aug. 14-Chicago
Aug. 15-Pittsburgh-Starlake Amph.
TBD- Cleveland
TBD- Toronto
TBD- Boston (2 shows)
TBD- Saratoga, NY
Aug. 24 & 25-NY-Jones Beach
Aug. 27-NJ-Meadowlands Amph.
TBD- Wash., D.C.
TBD- Cincinnati
TBD- Raleigh, NC
TBD- Atlanta
TBD- Houston
TBD- Dallas
TBD- Phoenix
TBD- Costa Mesa, CA
Sep. 7 & 8- Los Angeles-Greek Thtr.
Sep. 12- San Francisco
The venues are expected to be mostly outdoor amphitheaters. We are hoping to
have the confirmed dates before we mail this issue and send them with the mag.
The third question is what material will be played? For now, we don't know,
but the LA Times reported that the shows will be recorded for a live album.
One thing we do know for sure is that the Steely Dan t-shirts will sell like
hotcakes.
Stay tuned for more information.
Walter Becker is working on a solo album, but we don't have anything new to
report on it at this time. Walter did talk to Ken Sharp in an interview he did
after the NYR&S show at the Philly Spectrum about his project. Becker told
Ken that he finally broke down and decided to do his own vocals."I decided
that there was no point in being coy about it and there's something about when
you get to be a certain age you're more willing to just let it hang out, so
to speak. It was just the only way for me to go. I still think about if I could
just get a singer I could be doing this or doing that but at this point I think
I should just give it a try.
Walter also said that it was tough for him to write without Donald's input,
"I found it was difficult for me to recognize the standard of excellence
that he made possible for us to have. So two things happened. I started to use
a sequencer to write with and which enabled me to make up for some of my technical
shortcomings as a musician. And the other thing was I realized that I had to
suspend my own critical faculty while I was writing, to just do something and
go with it and let it become what it wanted to be and then at some later point
you could decide whether you liked it or didn't like it. As long as you're trying
to critique, as you're doing basically, that's a very inhibiting thing and counter-productive.
So if I have an idea I start it and I work on it as long as I can until it's
either finished or I don't know what to do with it."
"In many cases I write a complete song and then decide that this isn't
really the way I want it to be. But usually at some future date I get to use
the lyric idea or some part of that again. I would also say that writing music
always kind of seems to me that somebody is piping me ideas in from another
galaxy. You just find that you have these ideas that have already evolved to
some state when they arrive. That's my experience, anyway. I find myself all
the time driving my kids to school or out riding a bike and suddenly I've got
a great idea and I've got to maintain the tempo or the riff until I get back
home."
When Ken asked Walter if he would be playing most of the instruments on his
album, Becker replied, "No. It'll be a band, basically. It'll be as much
a live band playing as I can make it."
Now the rumor on Walter's band is that it will be the New York band, The Lost
Tribe, which he recently produced for Windham Hill Records. According to a review
of a show in the November 5, 1992 issue of The LA Times, The Lost Tribe's music
comes "from the Brooklyn-based movement known as "M-Base". It's
a fresh variation on the idea of jazz-rock-funk fusion, full of propulsive energy,
but also using intricate polyrhythmic and polytonal strategies."
Donald Fagen is supposed to produce Walter's album, but with the release of
"Kamakiriad" and the upcoming Steely Dan tour, we don't know yet when
the project will be released.
The Lost Tribe album that Walter produced is supposed to be released by Windham
Hill in the summer. Walter has also produced another jazz album by pianist Andy
Laverne for Triloka Records which is also supposed to be out this summer.
"Goldmine," a magazine for music collectors did a cover story on
Steely Dan in its January 22, 1993 issue. Along with a discography and history
of the group, Ken Sharp's recent interviews with Donald and Walter appear in
their entirety. Also included are some great rare photographs, as well as some
recent photos supplied by "Metal Leg." You can call "Goldmine"
to see if they have any back issues available.
We would like to make a belated correction to a story on the "Hoops McCann
Band Plays The Music Of Steely Dan" album that appeared in the October
1988 issue of "Metal Leg." The name of the piano player, Michael Lang
(also a ML subscriber) was omitted from the list of performing musicians.
Jenni Muldaur, one of the backup vocalists on "Kamakiriad" has just
had her self-titled debut album released on Warner Brothers Records. Jenni,
who has made a number of guest appearances at some of Donald's NY area club
gigs. In fact, she was signed by the record company after an appearance at Hades,
the N.Y. Upper East Side dive bar where Donald started his low-key reappearances
in 1990. Her album was produced by Russ Titelman and features some studio musicians
that have played with Fagen in the past including Rob Mounsey, David Sanborn,
Jeff Pevar, Michael Brecker, Dave Tofani, Randy Brecker and Ronnie Cuber. Donald
Fagen also did the horn arrangement for one of her songs, "What Goes Around."
Ms. Muldaur, the daughter of Maria (Midnight At The Oasis) Muldaur has also
worked with Todd Rundgren in the studio and on the road.
Another version of Donald Fagen's composition "Lazy Nina" appears on "Welcome To The Club," an album by the Canadian group Monkey House, which features Don Breithaupt (another ML subscriber). "Lazy Nina," an unbelievably catchy tune was written by Fagen and originally was performed by Greg Phillinganes on his 1985 "Pulse" album. Monkey House's version of "Lazy Nina" is excellent also, as is the rest of the album. It has been getting good reviews in Canada and moving up the charts.
Larry Carlton will be following up his "Kid Gloves" release with
a new project called Larry Carlton and the Renegades and will be a blues and
rock & roll album. It should come out sometime in late-summer.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter has joined a new band in L.A. called Cheap Dates.
The band also features drummer Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats, and yet another
ML subscriber), bassist Tony Sales (Tin Machine), guitarist Jamie James, and
vocalist/actor Harry Dean Stanton (Escape From New York, Repo Man).
The Vivino Brothers, featuring Jimmy and Jerry Vivino, will be following up
their "Chitlins Parmigiana" album with a second release on the DMP
label. Jimmy Vivino has also recently gone to LA to work on the soundtrack for
"Sister Act, II." Jimmy's work on the first "Sister Act"
contributed to the film's tremendous success as a musical consultant and singing
coach to Whoopie Goldberg and the other singing nuns in the flick. Go get 'em
Jimmy!
Some of the biggest stars in the music business gathered at the Universal
Amphitheatre in Los Angeles on December 14, 1992 to pay a musical tribute to
the late drummer Jeff Porcaro. The proceeds from the performance were set aside
for a trust fund for Jeff's children.
The featured artists that performed were Toto (with Simon Phillips on Drums),
Michael McDonald, David Crosby, Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, Don Henley and Eddie
Van Halen. Toto also served as the backup band. Mike McDonald performed "I
Keep Forgettin"' and "Takin' It To The Streets" with David Crosby
singing backup. Donald Fagen performed "Chain Lightning" and "Josie"
with Denny Dias, original Steely Dan guitarist and close friend of Jeff's joining
in. Afterwards, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather announced to the audience "Jeffrey
and I had two favorites: Steely and Jimi. You just heard Steely, here's Jimi."
Lukather then launched into Hendrix's "Little Wing."
Boz Scaggs followed and performed "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle."
Don Henley did "Dirty Laundry,""You Better Hang Up" and
Cole Porter's "Come Rain Come Shine." And Eddie Van Halen did Hendrix's
"Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire" and his own "Ain't Talkin' About
Love." Eddie also joined in on Toto's "Hold The Line" as part
of the encore and participated in an amazing guitar battle. To close the tribute,
ex-Beatle George Harrison joined the full ensemble for "With A Little Help
From My Friends."
A lot of Jeff s friends were in the audience at this show including Steely Dan
producer Gary Katz. Many other musicians who didn't perform on stage were also
there and spoke about how this show was a fitting tribute to the memory of Jeff
Porcaro.
Donald Fagen continued to make his unannounced NY Nights appearances at the
Lone Star Roadhouse in New York City in January and March. The first gigs were
on January 8 & 9 and featured a backup band consisting of Joe Caro on guitar
(from Dr. John's band), Will Lee on bass (Late Night with David Letterman, "The
Nightfly"), Steve Ferrone on drums (Eric Clapton) and Leon Pendarvis on
keyboards (Saturday Night Live Band). At these shows, Donald debuted a live
version of "FM." The crowd's reaction to the opening of "FM"
was as enthusiastic as when he debuted "My Old School." It was quite
a hoot to hear 500 people singing in unison "Give us some funked up Muzak!"
sort of like hearing 15,000 people at the Philadelphia Spectrum sing "Oh
no, Guadalajara won't do now!" with the NY Rock & Soul Revue. Pat Metheny
sat in with the band for most of the night and played wicked guitar solos on
"Black Friday" and "Josie." Metheny captivated the audience
and the idea of his joining the Steely Dan tour is something that is really
appealing.
Phoebe Snow was another special guest and wowed the crowd as usual. Chaka ("I
Feel For You") Khan made an unexpected (or was it uninvited?) guest appearance
and sang a few oldies and tried to sing backup on "FM". It was obvious
to the crowd that Ms. Khan didn't know the words to "FM" and she seemed
to be a bit dazed by the complexity of the song.
The second set of New York Night shows took place on March 5 & 6 and featured
The Vivino Brothers Band as the backup. The show was set up as a benefit for
Woodstock artist Barry Feinstein who is currently recovering from a serious
automobile accident.
In addition to The Vivino Brothers Band, Chuck Jackson (from the NYR&S summer
tour) and guitarist Elliot Randall (Steely Dan's "Reelin' In The Years"
soloist, among others) were also on the bill. Special unannounced guests were
Al Kooper (Blues Project, original Blood, Sweat & Tears), Phoebe Snow and
Jenni Muldaur and of course, Mr. Donald Fagen.
The Vivino Brothers opened the show with fours songs from their "Chitlins
Parmigiana" release including a great vocal performance of "Fools
Gold" by Catherine Russell. It was also neat to hear people in the audience
yelling out requests for Jimmy's "Miss Mona" and other songs from
the album.
The rest of the show was a casual, free wheeling affair with each performer
taking the spotlight and strutting his or her stuff. Mindy Jostyn did a great
version of Art Neville's "Oooh-Whee Baby." Jenni Muldaur did a couple
of songs from her album which was released later that week. Chuck Jackson did
a couple of his hits including an ambitious run through Leiber & Stoller's
"I Keep Forgettin'." Al Kooper played it cool on the Hammond B-3 organ
and played a bit of guitar. Phoebe Snow sung the blues and demonstrated her
trademark vocal acrobatics.
The man of the hour, however was Elliot Randall. Mr. Randall had a big grin
on his face the entire night and performed some acrobatics of his own on guitar.
Elliot played almost the entire night and backed up every artist who performed.
The work he did on the Steely stuff was also impressive. Elliot, who did the
original solo on "Green Earrings" eighteen or so years ago, took it
to the next level at these shows. Randall also traded licks with Jimmy Vivino
on the other songs that Donald performed, "FM," "Josie"
and "Chain Lightning."
All in all, it was another exiting round of N.Y. Nights. Let's keep 'em coming.
Metal Leg contents | The Steely Dan Internet Resource
Last modified on 1/30/2003