The Classic Albums series highlights important albums from rock history, based on archival footage and conversations with those directly involved. Aja, the sixth album by the pop / jazz band Steely Dan is perfect for this formula. The complex tracks of this 1977 album are made up of many layers. With Walter Becker and Donald Fagen at the mixing console, the different tracks are listened to separately
… and put together again. Through conversations with the many technicians and session musicians from Los Angeles who contributed to the album, including producer Gary Katz, guitarist Larry Carlton, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and singer Michael McDonald, we look back on the creation of this artistically and commercially extremely successful album. Guitarist Dean Parks punctures the myth of Steely Dan as cool perfectionists. ' They worked beyond the point of perfectionism, to the moment when it sounded natural and pleasant to listen to. ' Aja is one of the better episodes of the Classic Albums DVD series. (MS)more
