Steely Dan's "Aja": A Perfect Album?
You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians
Peter Martin
4.9 • 770 Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2025
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From the hypnotic grooves of “Black Cow” to contributions from jazz legends Wayne Shorter, Steve Gadd, and Victor Feldman, Steely Dan’s 1977 masterpiece Aja reigns amongst the best—and best-produced—albums of all time. In this episode, Peter and Adam break down Fagen and Becker’s jazz-infused harmonies, their precision recording process, and the album’s audiophile-worthy engineering. Tune in for stories, stem breakdowns, and a brand new segment where Kaleb Kirby and Bob DeBoo join us to play through Aja hits. Whether you’re a Steely Dan devotee or just here for the yacht-rock controversy, get ready to kick off the new YHI season with one of the 70s’ most iconic sonic journeys.
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show notes:
(00:00) Intro & avoiding nautical references
(03:11) Introduction to Aja (1977) and its Grammy nods
(06:01) "Black Cow" keys analysis (Joe Sample & Victor Feldman)
(07:36) Isolation of Paul Humphrey's drum tracks
(11:01) Breakdown of Victor Feldman's Rhodes solo
(14:37) Deep dive into title track "Aja"
(18:11) Analysis of Wayne Shorter solo w/Steve Gadd "comping"
(25:49) "Peg" analysis
(27:27) Breakdown of McDonald's background vocal arrangements
(30:23) Album sequencing discussion
(31:31) Chuck Rainey's bass contributions across the album
(33:11) "Home at Last" analysis
(35:35) "Deacon Blues" discussion
(39:44) Snob-o-meter rating
(42:34) Preview of Open Studio member exclusive content
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Looking to drop a question? Want to listen to the audio pod? Look no further!
https://youllhearit.com/
Check out AJA by Don Breithaupt
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/steely-dans-aja-don-breithaupt/1100758984
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Are we good? |
| 0:01.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:02.0 | All right. |
| 0:03.0 | Cats. |
| 0:04.0 | We need to address something before we do this album. |
| 0:08.0 | One of the greatest albums ever, yeah? |
| 0:10.0 | But there's something that I don't want to talk about has to do with boats. |
| 0:14.0 | I don't want any mention of even a dinghy, a schooner, any boat of any kind, any nautical vessel, nothing, any seafaring ship. |
| 0:25.0 | Let's just keep it out of there because these guys get pissed about that kind of stuff. |
| 0:28.0 | You know what I mean? |
| 0:28.9 | All right, cool. |
| 0:29.9 | Can we talk about yachts? |
| 0:31.4 | Dude, that's what I'm talking about. |
| 0:37.3 | Music I'm I'm I'm |
| 0:38.3 | I'm |
| 0:40.3 | I'm |
| 0:41.3 | I'm |
| 0:42.3 | I'm |
| 0:43.3 | I'm |
| 0:44.3 | I'm |
| 0:45.3 | I'm The |
| 0:57.0 | I'm going to |
... |
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