Jen Becker

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.

It's not surprising that Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker's debut solo album sounds like a Steely Dan record. What is a little surprising, though, is that, in his lead singing debut, he sounds so much like his erstwhile partner, Donald Fagen. Not that you'd mistake the two (Fagen projects more and is slightly grittier), but they sing in the same register with the same sly phrasing and the same accent. Other differences from the Dan are equally subtle: Becker adopts a sparer musical approach, for one thing, the missing element being the prominence of Fagen's keyboards (although Fagen does play on the record and co-produced it). Nothing gets in the way of Becker's voice, and he proves to be a less ornate lyricist than Fagen, restricting himself largely to tales of romantic dislocation. On the whole, this album sounds like what you'd expect – one half of Steely Dan.

Alleingang (Going it Alone), Markus Becker’s second solo album is released by BERTHOLD records on October 29th 2021. In his own inimitable style, the renowned concert pianist has created a jazz and classical music mosaic. In his first solo album Freistil (Free Style) he developed structures out of largely spontaneous improvisations. “In Alleingang,” explains Becker “I most often thought out structures and themes first, and then created the music live in the Sendesaal, Radio Bremen’s concert hall, where as always they did such a great job. That suits my own ‘Alleinstellungsmerkmal’ which is a lovely German word for ‘unique selling point’.”