Results for Donald Fagen
On this page:
 
Who2 Biography:

Donald Fagen

, Pop Musician
Donald Fagen
Source

  • Born: 10 January 1948
  • Birthplace: Passaic, New Jersey
  • Best Known As: Co-founder of the group Steely Dan

Keyboardist/vocalist Donald Fagen and guitarist Walter Becker are the principals of the long-running group Steely Dan. From 1972 to 1980 the group released a series of jazz-tinged pop albums which peaked with the mysterious Aja (1978) and ended with the slightly creepy Gaucho (1980). The band stopped recording but retained a steady cult of followers besotted with its clever tunes, quirky lyrics and rascally attitude. Fagen later released two solo albums, The Nightfly (1982) and Kamakiriad (1993), the decade-long gap enhancing his reputation as a cerebral studio perfectionist and reclusive avatar of High Pop. In the '90s Steely Dan resurfaced, with Fagen and Becker touring extensively. Their 2000 release Two Against Nature, the first new Steely Dan album in 20 years, won three Grammy Awards including the award for Album of the Year. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Their next album, Everything Must Go, was released in 2003. Fagen released another solo album, Morph the Cat, in 2006, followed by a boxed set of all three solo albums, The Nightfly Trilogy, in 2007.

Fagen and Becker attended Bard College along with actor Chevy Chase; the three briefly played together in a band known as Leather Canary... The band was introduced by Moby at their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Moby told MTV News, "I don't know how or why I was chosen. I assumed they hated everybody."

 
 
Artist: Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen

Born:
Jan 10, 1948 in Passaic, New Jersey

Representative Songs:

"New Frontier," "Tomorrow's Girls," "I.G.Y."

Representative Albums:

The Nightfly, Morph the Cat, Kamakiriad

Similar Artists:

A Member of the Group:

Worked With:

Denny Dias, Timothy B. Schmit, Dean Parks, Jeff Porcaro, Roger Nichols, Shirley Matthews, Gary Katz, Elliott Randall, Clydie King, Chuck Rainey, Victor Feldman, Larry Carlton, Rick Derringer
  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Instruments: Vocals, Keyboards, Synthesizer

Biography

Donald Fagen was one of the two masterminds behind Steely Dan, the seminal jazz-pop band of the '70s. Fagen's solo work has been a continuation of the band's work of the early '80s -- carefully constructed and arranged, intricately detailed pop songs that are more substantial than their stylish surface may indicate. His 1982 solo debut, The Nightfly, was the best album he had made in years; it covered the same ground as the last two Steely Dan albums, yet surpassed them in terms of ambition and achievement.

After the success of The Nightfly, Fagen suffered a case of writer's block; for the rest of the decade he contributed music to the occasional film and briefly wrote a column for Premiere magazine in the mid-'80s. In the early '90s, he toured with the New York Rock and Soul Revue as he finished the material for his second album. With his former Steely Dan partner Walter Becker producing, 1993's Kamakiriad sounded like Aja recorded with '90s technology. It had some success on the adult contemporary charts, but it was overshadowed by the duo's decision to re-form Steely Dan and tour for the first time in nearly 20 years; the tour was a massive success. One more album -- 2003's Everything Must Go -- came out of the reunion before Fagen decided to begin work on his third solo album. With death as its main theme, Morph the Cat appeared in March 2006. Soon after the album's release, Fagen embarked on his first solo tour. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
 
Wikipedia: Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen
Birth name Donald Jay Fagen
Born 10 January 1948 (1948--) (age 59)
Origin Passaic, New Jersey
Genre(s) Rock, Jazz fusion
Years active 1971 – present
Label(s) MCA Records
Giant/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records
Reprise/Warner Bros. Records
Website Official Site

Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948 in Passaic, New Jersey) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as co-writer, co-founder, singer, and pianist with the jazz-rock band Steely Dan.

Fagen is a 1965 graduate of South Brunswick High School in South Brunswick, New Jersey.[1]

Career

Steely Dan

Fagen and Walter Becker founded Steely Dan in August 1972. They initially comprised the core of the band, and co-wrote all the group's music; on tour and record, Becker played bass (and later lead guitar) and Fagen played keyboards, as well as performing almost all of the lead vocals on their recordings. (Fagen and Becker initially met at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, in upstate New York in the 60's.)

After releasing their third LP in 1974 the other members gradually left the band and it evolved into a studio project headed by Becker and Fagen, who from that point on recorded their albums with the cream of America's jazz and rock session musicians. They scored their biggest success in 1977 with the platinum-selling album Aja.

Solo

After the group's 1981 breakup, Fagen released his solo debut album, The Nightfly (1982), which has been favorably compared to his Steely Dan work. He also contributed an original composition, "True Companion," to the 1981 animated cult film Heavy Metal. Another soundtrack contribution, "Century's End," appears on the 1988 Michael J. Fox film, Bright Lights, Big City.

Fagen's 1982 solo album The Nightfly
Enlarge
Fagen's 1982 solo album The Nightfly

He wrote briefly for Premiere magazine, including witty pieces on Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone. During the eighties, Fagen composed music for films and various other artists and toured with the New York Rock and Soul Revue. His second solo album, 1993's Kamakiriad, was produced by Becker. This led to their reunion as a writing team and the creation of a new touring version of Steely Dan. The following year Fagen co-produced Becker's solo debut, 11 Tracks of Whack.

The duo have kept Steely Dan going strong in its new formation and have since delighted their legion of fans with two more Steely Dan albums, the Grammy Award winning Two Against Nature (2000) and Everything Must Go (2003), as well as the live CD Alive in America (1995) and a live concert DVD.

Recording sessions for Fagen's third solo album, Morph the Cat, began in August 2004 and the album was released March 14th, 2006. Performing on the album are Wayne Krantz (guitar), Jon Herington (guitar), Keith Carlock (drums), Freddy Washington (bass), Ted Baker (piano), and Walt Weiskopf (sax). Upon its release, Morph the Cat received universal acclaim and was later named Album of the Year by Mix Magazine. Fagen was also given the Producer of the Year award.

In March of 2006, Fagen embarked on his first-ever solo tour to support the album. This theater tour of the northeast, the midwest and the west coast played to sold-out houses and excellent reviews. Fagen's management also sold VIP packages for the tour, which included a pre-show party, premium seats, and access to the band's sound checks. This was mocked on his song writing partner Walter Becker's website.[1]

Fagen joined Becker for a Steely Dan/Michael McDonald tour the following summer.

Donald Fagen's third solo album Morph the Cat won a grammy award for "Best Surround Sound Album" at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

Elliot Scheiner, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Donald Fagen, surround producer

All three of Fagen's albums are set to be released in a special MVI (Music Video Interactive) boxed set. Each album features a DTS 5.1, Dolby 5.1 and PCM Stereo mix, along with bonus audio and video content. Customers will also be able to select any track or any portion of a track and use it as their mobile phone ringtone.

Discography

Awards

In 2001, both Fagen and Becker received Honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Berklee College of Music. They both accepted their degrees in person. [2]

References

  1. ^ "Fagen finds his groove", The Star-Ledger, February 26, 2006. "Born in Passaic, Fagen graduated in South Brunswick High School's class of '65..."
  2. ^ Berklee College of Music: Commencement 2001 - Photographs, retrieved 15 October 2007

External links



 
 

Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "Donald Fagen" at WikiAnswers.

 

Copyrights:

Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Donald Fagen biography from Who2.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Donald Fagen" Read more

Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!  
Click here to download now. 

Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.

On this page:   E-mail   print Print  Link  

 

Keep Reading

Mentioned In: