| Name | Aja |
|---|
| Type | Album |
|---|
| Artist | Steely Dan |
|---|
| Cover | Aja_album_cover.jpg |
|---|
| Released | September 1977 |
|---|
| Recorded | January–July 1977 at Village Recorders, West LA; Producer's Workshop, Hollywood; Warner Bros. North Hollywood Recording Studios; ABC Recording Studios; Sound Labs, Hollywood; A & R Studios, New York | |
|---|
| Genre | Jazz fusion |
|---|
| Length | 39:58 |
|---|
| Label | ABC, MCA (Remastered Versions) |
|---|
| Producer | Gary Katz |
|---|
| Last album | The Royal Scam (1976) |
|---|
| This album | Aja (1977) |
|---|
| Next album | Gaucho (1980) |
|---|
Aja ( like "Asia") is the sixth album by the
jazz-rock band
Steely Dan. Originally released in
1977, it became the group's best-selling album. Peaking at #3 on the U.S. charts and #5 in the United Kingdom, it was the band's first platinum album, eventually selling over 5 million copies. In July 1978, the album won the
Grammy Award for Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording. In 2003, the album was ranked number 145 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album is ambitious and sophisticated, and features several leading session musicians. The eight-minute-long title track features complex jazz-based changes and a solo by renowned saxophonist Wayne Shorter, as well as dextrous drumming by Steve Gadd - most notably at the end of the track.
Aja is also the subject of one of the Classic Albums series of documentaries about the making of famous albums. The documentary includes a song-by-song study of the album (the only omission being "I Got the News," which is played during the closing credits), interviews with Steely Dan co-founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (among others) plus new, live-in-studio versions of songs from the album, and the opportunity to hear some of the rejected (and uncredited) guitar solos for "Peg," before Jay Graydon produced the satisfactory take.
When DTS attempted to make a 5.1 version, it was discovered that the multitrack masters for both "Black Cow" and the title track were missing. For this same reason, a multichannel SACD version was cancelled by Universal Music. Donald Fagen has offered a $600 reward for the missing masters or any information that leads to their recovery.
Track listing
All songs written by Becker and Fagen.
;Side one
#"Black Cow" – 5:10
#"Aja" – 7:57
#"Deacon Blues" – 7:37
;Side two
#
"Peg" – 3:57
#"Home at Last" – 5:34
#"I Got the News" – 5:06
#"Josie" – 4:33
Personnel
Donald Fagen - synthesizer, keyboards, vocals, background vocals, whistle
Walter Becker - bass, guitar, electric guitar, vocals
Chuck Rainey - bass
Timothy B. Schmit - vocals
Paul Griffin - keyboards, electric piano, vocals, background vocals
Don Grolnick - keyboards, clavinet
Michael Omartian - piano, keyboards
Joe Sample - keyboards, electric piano, clavinet
Larry Carlton - guitar, electric guitar
Denny Dias - guitar
Jay Graydon - guitar, electric guitar
Steve Khan - guitar
Dean Parks - guitar
Lee Ritenour - guitar
Pete Christlieb - flute, tenor saxophone
Chuck Findley - horn, brass
Jim Horn - flute, saxophone
Richard "Slyde" Hyde - trombone
Plas Johnson - flute, saxophone
Jackie Kelso - flute, horn, saxophone
Lou McCreary - brass
Bill Perkins - flute, horn, saxophone
Tom Scott - conductor, flute, tenor saxophone, lyricon
Wayne Shorter - flute, tenor saxophone
Bernard Purdie - drums ("Home at Last", "Deacon Blues")
Steve Gadd - drums ("Aja")
Ed Greene - drums ("I Got the News")
Lee Price - Fire Shards
Paul Humphrey - drums ("Black Cow")
Jim Keltner - percussion, drums ("Josie")
Rick Marotta - drums ("Peg")
Gary Coleman - percussion
Victor Feldman - percussion, piano, keyboards, electric piano, vibraphone
Venetta Fields - vocals, background vocals
Clydie King - vocals, background vocals
Rebecca Louis - vocals, background vocals
Sherlie Matthews - vocals, background vocals
Michael McDonald - vocals, background vocals
Production
Executive Producer: Stephen Diener [ABC Records]
Producer: Gary Katz
Engineers: Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner, Al Schmitt, Bill Schnee
Assistant engineers: Joe Bellamy, Lenise Bent, Ken Klinger, Ron Pangaliman, Ed Rack, Linda Tyler
Mastering: Bernie Grundman
Production coordination: Barbara Miller
Sound consultant: Dinky Dawson
Consultant: Daniel Levitin
Horn arrangements: Tom Scott
Art direction: Vartan Reissue
Design: Geoff Westen
Photography: Walter Becker
Liner notes: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Reissue coordination: Beth Stempel
Charts
Album
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:30%;"
|-
!align="left"|Year
!align="left"|Chart
!align="left"|Position
|-
|align="left"|1977
|align="left"|Pop Albums
|align="center"|3
|}
Pop Singles
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:60%;"
|-
!align="left"|Year
!align="left"|Single
!align="left"|Label & number
!align="left"|Position
|-
|align="left"|1978
|align="left"|"Peg" (B-side: "I Got the News")
|align="left"|ABC 12320
|align="center"|11
|-
|align="left"|1978
|align="left"|"Deacon Blues" (B-side: "Home at Last")
|align="left"|ABC 12355
|align="center"|19
|-
|align="left"|1978
|align="left"|"Josie" (B-side: "Black Cow")
|align="left"|ABC 12404
|align="center"|26
|}
Awards
Grammy Awards
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="width:60%;"
|-
!align="left"|Year
!align="left"|Winner
!align="left"|Category
|-
|align="left"|1977
|align="left"|
Aja
|align="left"|Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical
|}
In popular culture
The video promo for Aja featured Starsky and Hutch star Mark Davis and Charlie's Angels actress Cheryl Ladd
Rappers Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz sampled the track "Black Cow" for their 1998 hit single "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)".
This is the last album Denny Dias played on.
Ted Kooshian recorded an instrumental version of the song "Aja" on his 2009 CD "Ted Kooshian's Standard Orbit Quartet: Underdog, and other Stories..."
Tatyana Ali sampled "Black Cow" on her song "Daydreamin'" on her 1998 debut album, Kiss the Sky.
De La Soul sample Peg on their track "Eye Know" from the album "3 feet high and rising"
External links
Complete Lyrics
Promotional Video
References
Category:Steely Dan albums
Category:ABC Records albums
Category:1977 albums
Category:Albums produced by Gary Katz
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