The 1970's saw quite a few pop musicians deciding to move beyond what they saw as the confines of the three minute hit song. Some went the route of progressive rock self indulgence featuring long drawn out electronic keyboard extravagances of excess. Others started to perform longer and longer guitar solo's which meandered on into nothingness until they lost their point. But a very few looked at what the jazz fusion groups were doing and saw something there to emulate.
Under the influence of Miles Davis, groups like Weather Report and individuals like Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea were stretching jazz into a meeting with funk and rhythm and blues. At the same time a limited number of bands were utilizing jazz influences in their pop music. Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Lighthouse were using horn sections and other unconventional rock instruments to help create a sound that was different, but they were still working within the pop/rock format.
The honour of being the first pop band to produce a rock/jazz fusion album was Steely Dan with their recording of the record Aja. As part of their Classic Albums Series Eagle Vision, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, has produced a DVD documentary on the recording of the album. They've gathered together Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the two front men of Steely Dan, and a group of the session musicians who played on the album to help recreate its production.
Prior to Aja's release in 1977 Steely Dan had already had five albums in the top forty in the U.S. But Aja became the band's biggest seller reaching number 3 and number 5 in the U. K. Although the recording was listed as being by Steely Dan, at the time the band only consisted of Fagen and Becker, the remainder of the musicians used on the album were all session men.
Article comments
1 - Pico
No comments yet about the meticulous creation of a landmark album? For shame! Instead of being the first pop band to produce a rock/jazz fusion album, I'd call it the first full album of rock/jazz fusion succesfully rendered in the pop format. Which, when you think about it, is an even tougher thing to achieve.
Regardless, this is a video I've always wanted to see and your review has whetted my appetite further. I'll need to get a copy of this; $10 doesn't seem to be a bad price for an intriguing of rock history.
-P
2 - Mark Saleski
i agree...and would love to see this video. the classic albums series is great. i've got the Stevie Wonder/Songs In The Key of Life disc and it's similarly chock full of great details.
3 - Big Geez
Nice review! I'm a big fan of Steely Dan through all their various phases through the years. In fact, one of my favorites just won a Grammy a few years back - it's "Cousin Dupree", which was also in the news recently because of a tongue-in-cheek controversy related to the Owen Wilson movie.
4 - Richard Marcus
Just a clarification about the Amazon link, and the price - that's the older version of the disc that's pictured in the review, for some reason there wasn't a listing for the new one yet. If you can get the old one it will only be $10.00 but I think the new one is listing for $17.00. (That's what the Bob Marley in the new edition was going for)
cheers
Richard
5 - Pico
Richard, I later noticed that too, but ended up ordering it from one of the other vendors listed within Amazon for less than $9, including shipping. I can't wait to pop in the DVD.
So you can still say your review made a sale :&)
-P