[.ca] Nightfly

Un Essentiel amazon.fr:
S'il est un groupe dont les disques frisent à chaque fois la perfection sans qu'elle ne soit jamais figée comme celle d'une image sur papier glacé, c'est Steely Dan dont le claviériste chanteur Donald Fagen est, avec le guitariste Walter Becker, une des deux têtes pensantes. Première échappée en solitaire de Fagen, The Night Fly comblera le fan et interpellera l'amateur de pop aux accents jazz. Le défilé de stars y est impressionnant : Larry Carlton à la guitare, Randy Brecker à la trompette, son frère Michael au saxophone, Jeff Porcaro à la batterie et même le bassiste Marcus Miller avant qu'il n'enregistre Tutu avec Miles Davis. Le répertoire est à la hauteur : entre légèreté nostalgique et science des arrangements à toute épreuve, le dandy branché chante sa soul blanche que les solos de ses partenaires habillent des parures les plus chic. D'un charme irrésistible auquel on ne peut que succomber, The Night Fly est à la musique ce que la haute couture est au prêt-à- porter : un produit d'un luxe futile inouï dont on aurait tort de se priver. -- Philippe Robert

From Amazon.co.uk:
Donald Fagen's 1982 solo debut extends the sleek, smart pop craft of his work with Steely Dan into the realm of the concept album, taking the Dan's penchant for intricate plotting, evocative narrative voices, and allusive imagery to the logical next step. Fagen's connective thread is futurist nostalgia for the "New Frontier" as anticipated from the prosperous vantage point of late-'50s America. He romanticises a brave new world of technology in the sultry diorama of "I.G.Y.", celebrating the coming glories of the Atomic Age. He then filters that view through his own suburban adolescence--a would-be seduction in a fall-out shelter, the siren song of a graveyard-shift jazz DJ, a not-quite-hard-boiled noir adventure ("The Goodbye Look") that borrows its title from an early '60s Ross MacDonald mystery. Song for song, the set's a stunner and stands apart from Steely Dan thanks to a unique, poignant romanticism embodied in Fagen's yearning "Maxine" and a creamy update of Dion & the Belmonts' "Ruby Baby". --Sam Sutherland

Donald Fagan - American Composer:
I bought the CD in 1983. The quality of the recording was stunning, still is. Somebody once said Duke Ellington is "the quintessential American composer." Crowning his body of work as the musical brains behind Steely Dan, Donald Fagen's solo masterpiece The Nightfly shows that he may very well be the quintessential American composer of the late 20th century. Musically and lyrically this CD fits the bill. Jazz, rock, pop -it's lyrical, cerebral, romantic and it SWINGS. Harmonically Fagen is happening. Great hooks. Music for the mind and body. Scratch the surface and it's closest to our singular great American art form - jazz. It's as American as Thelonious Monk or Raymond Chandler. Great music and lyrics in each song. Fagen's first solo work takes a step back from the Steely Dan hipster cool - so what's so bad about a little romanticism? Cool but warm. And funny. IGY - Spandex jackets, one for everyone ... Green Flower Street - Cmaj7 F#7 F6 E7. Another cool move. He's got lots of em. The reharmonization of Lieber and Stoller's Ruby Baby. Dissonance that sounds sweet. The close, lush harmonies in Maxine - picture DF singing along with the Four Freshmen in the Jersey suburbs. Tuesday Weld, bombs shelters, Brubeck, provisions and lots of beer. You'd never believe it, but once there was a time When love was in my life ... the last chord F#/A - DF listens to Joe Zawinul and Weather Report! That was the future. The Goodbye Look - bossa nova. Marimba intro. Great chords. There's been talk, and lately, a bit of action after dark ... Tonight, they're arranging a small reception just for me. Behind the big casino by the sea. Dig the conga line outtro. Walk Between Raindrops. Great music. Swings. Unabashedly romantic. I can see Gene Kelly dancing and singing in the rain. Hold the Cmaj9+11. It vibrates. Perfect.

A Surprisingly Good CD.:
I must admit I knew nothing about Mr. Fagen when I bought this CD. I knew that Marcus Miller, one of my favorite bassit is playing on it, so I bought it. On my first listen I found myself, more than once, nod my head with amazement in response to a praticullarly good phrase, and on second listening, I decided it's one of my best CDs. Donald Fagen is a talented writer and a gifted composer and arranger. He had assembeled some of the best players around, and together they create a fun, funky and delighting music, that'll make you have a good time. To the bassists among you, like myself, I'd say that you won't be disappointed. You'll hear great bassits, more and less known, accompany Fagen, and do it with inspiring skill. After all, with all the fun of being a leader, us bassits also have the accompanying job to do, and this CD is defiently learning it from the masters.

eminently listenable:
Just as his band Steely Dan redefined what a rock album could be in the 1970s with heavy doses of modern jazz and the blues, co-frontman Donald Fagen created his solo debut "The Nightfly" as a smoothly crafted jazz-rock masterpiece. "Nightfly" is a natural extension of the sonic perfection that was Steely Dan's last album "Gaucho," with a more eclectic style base, allowing for very diverse songs in a cohesive package. 1950's style jazz-pop tracks such as "Walk Between Raindrops" and "Ruby Baby" (with a piano solo that quotes The Kinks "You Really Got Me") blend with "Gaucho"-era Steely Dan-sounding tracks like "IGY," "Green Flower Street" and the title track. Add to this uniquely Donald Fagen compositions like the tropical "The Goodbye Look" and it creates one of the most interesting rock releases of 1982. Two decades later, this album isn't exactly timeless, but that's not to say that it's not eminently listenable. It's beautifully done, strangely personal, and quite elegant. That said, it's not for everyone. Younger listeners may not cotton to Fagen's Kennedy-era references, sometimes languid pacing and likely won't share his love for the electric piano. Personally, I'm under thirty and I love all those things, but I don't pretend to speak for everyone my age. Some people who thought Steely Dan got too smooth and polished after "Aja" will likely not like this album either. But if you're a fan of solidy composed and performed music, there's no reason that you shouldn't have this album.

Donald's Glorious "Nightfly":
Two years after Steely Dan called it a day (well, until their 1993 reunion tour, anyway), Donald Fagen released his first solo album, 1982's "The Nightfly." This is a wonderful album, filled with lots of smooth, upbeat, melodic, toe-tapping tunes that don't stray too far from the classic Steely Dan jazz/pop sound. If you love the Dan, you'll love the Don. Donald's songs are all winners: the supercool hits "I.G.Y." and "New Frontier," Donald's breezy cover of "Ruby Baby," the cocktail number "Maxine," the punch of "Green Flower Street," the calypso hooks of "The Goodbye Look," the awesome smooth-grooving title song, and the cheerful finger-snappin' conclusion, "Walk Between Raindrops." Donald's work in the singing, songwriting, and playing departments are all top of the line, as is the handsome production by longtime Steely Dan producer, Gary Katz. Whether with the Dan or on his own, Donald Fagen makes brilliant music. "The Nightfly" is a gloriously cool album.

Donald Fagen Brings Back Hope:
Steely Dan are the last thing America, circa 1982, would consider a legendary rock outfit. Not after releases like Aja and Gaucho, leaning more towards neo-jazz and funk than arena rock; but maybe that's why Steely Dan stopped touring after the release of '84's Pretzel Logic. But, when the legendary backbone of the outfit, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, parted in 1980, fans all over the world wept in sorrow, wondering just who would replace them as the masters of the ultimate oxymoron, contemporary jazz. Two years later, Doanld Fagen returned with eight songs of redemption and salvation called The Nightfly, and it was good.

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