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Donald Fagen
Fagen meets Walter Becker at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY where both are students. With shared interests (jazz, Chicago blues, soul music, science fiction, writers of the so-called "black humor school) Fagen and Becker start writing songs and collaborating with bands. They score their first studio time when Terence (Boona) Boylan, having received a contract, asks them to play on sessions for his album, Alias Boona.
Fagen's solo recordings are a continuation of the work of Steely Dan's in the early 80's. In 1982, Fagen released Nightfly. A concept album, the songs and music are a timeless slice of 1950s Americana. After the release of "Nightfly", Fagen suffered from writers block nevertheless, he lent his talents to the occasional film and wrote a column in the mid-80s for Premiere magazine. In 1993, fagen released "" (Japanese for Praying Mantis). Ex-Steely Dan cohort Walter Becker produced the album and co-wrote the song "Snowbound. While "Nightfly" was about the past, the mood and music of 1993's "Kamakiriad" takes you on a futuristic road trip. "Kamakiriad" is primarily smooth-jazz a.k.a. "cocktail-jazz". The songs are a nice mix of up-tempo numbers and slower, smoother tunes.
Deciding to tour with old partner Walter Becker, his solo career took a breather. A great idea since the tour was a major success. In 2000, they released "Two against Nature". A welcome success, the band received 4 Grammy awards including the coveted "Album of the Year". They followed in 2003 with the album "Everything must go" after which they went on a successful tour. Fagen was back as a solo artist. In 2006, Fagen released "Morph the Cat", an impeccably produced mix of jazz, rock & soul. The theme of the album is predominantly post 9/11 fears. The poetry is cynical with Fagen's bite.
All of Donald Fagen's recordings are nothing short of amazing,as is proved by critics and mass praise. Whether in Steely Dan or solo, Fagen creates some of the most catchy and beautiful songs backed by very delectable music. Listening to Donald Fagen is truly an enlightening experience, however the better option would be buying tickets to watch him live. As with every great musician, Donald Fagen's music is best felt live.
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Artist Biography - Donald Fagen
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On January 10, 1948, Donald Jay Fagen was born to Elinor and Joseph (Jerry) Fagen. However, hes is popularly known as the co-founder, co-writer, singer and pianist with the jazz-rock band, Steely Dan. As one of the two Steely Dan masterminds, Fagen has performed to concerts where tickets have sold out time and again.
As a kid, his mother was his biggest musical influence. Elinor had sung professionally in the Catskills under the alias of Ellen Ross. In 1955, when his dad bought a TV set, the 7-year old Donald sees Chuck Berry on the Dick Clark show after which he spent all his allowance on R * B singles. His collection included 45s of most of his influences;The Everly Brothers, vocal groups such as the Coasters and the Drifters and his hero Chuck Berry. Fagen is introduced to "Modern jazz" through his cousins. As a child he attended concert performances by Charles Mingus, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington and others.
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of Donald Fagen
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