Fagen

A portrait of the artist as a young man, The Nightfly is a wonderfully evocative reminiscence of Kennedy-era American life; in the liner notes, Donald Fagen describes the songs as representative of the kinds of fantasies he entertained as an adolescent during the late '50s/early '60s, and he conveys the tenor of the times with some of his most personal and least obtuse material to date. Continuing in the smooth pop-jazz mode favored on the final Steely Dan records, The Nightfly is lush and shimmering, produced with cinematic flair by Gary Katz; romanticized but never sentimental, the songs are slices of suburbanite soap opera, tales of space-age hopes (the hit "I.G.Y.") and Cold War fears (the wonderful "The New Frontier," a memoir of fallout-shelter love) crafted with impeccable style and sophistication.

Donald Fagen‘s classic 1982 album The Nightfly is being released as a live album in September. Produced by Gary Katz (who worked on all of the original era Steely Dan records), The Nightfly was a critical and commercial success with popular singles like ‘New Frontier’ and ‘I.G.Y.’ This new live release sees the whole of The Nightfly performed in its entirety, in order, by Steely Dan, or ‘The Steely Dan Band’ as they tend to be referred post Walter Becker’s 2017 death. Donald Fagen remains part of this band, in case that wasn’t clear! This is a performance from 2019.

The band Steely Dan - in essence the musicianship and songwriting team of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - has long divided the critics : some have marvelled at a highly imaginative blend of intelligent, "literary" lyrics and a carefully crafted influence of jazz and Latin rhythms within the rock template, whilst others have detected a certain coldness in the work, due perhaps to over-elaboration and perfectionism. Of course, deciding to name your b.nd after a dildo in William Burroughs's cult novel Th Naked Lunch will invite criticism , but none of those who questioned Steely Dan's Status at the top of the tree of 70s rock could ever seriously dispute the immaculate execution of their vision.

A companion album to Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live, Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Live captures a 2019 performance of the 1982 album by Steely Dan (or the Steely Dan Band, as Fagen chooses to call them in the years following Walter Becker's 2017 death). Original producer Gary Katz is on board to capture all the sonic intricacies of this concert, helping the live album to sound remarkably similar to its studio predecessor. There are differences, to be sure: the digital punch of the 1982 record has been warmed, the beats swing a bit more, Fagen's voice is thin and wispy, the backup singers take the lead on "Maxine," and there's a bit more emphasis on R&B rhythms – all elements that make this feel like a concert despite the precision of the production and performances. It's enough to keep Donald Fagen's The Nightfly Live fleet on its feet, which is enough to keep this record fun.

Deluxe Audiophile Pressing Strictly Limited to 6000 Numbered Copies. Donald Fagen's largely autobiographical The Nightfly remains one of the best-sounding albums ever made. Revered by audiophiles, the Steely Dan co-founder's 1982 set immediately became a demonstration disc at audio salons and hi-fi shows the world over. It also quickly emerged as an irreplaceable monitor-evaluating tool for recording-studio engineers and front-of-the-house testing device for concert-venue soundboard engineers who continue to use it today. Painstakingly recorded over eight months by producer Gary Katz and engineers Roger Nichols and Elliot Scheiner, The Nightfly endures as a rare trifecta of superlative performance, consummate songwriting, and crisp, benchmark production. Mobile Fidelity is honored to give this seminal effort unsurpassed treatment befitting the most serious music connoisseurs.