
Steely Dan - Aja (2LP, Box set, 45RPM, UHQR, 200g, Clear vinyl)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
[click here to see more vinyl from Steely Dan]
Donald Fagen - Lead Vocals (A1-2, B1, C1-2, D2), Backing Vocals (A2, C2, D2), Synthesizer (A1-2, B1, C2, D2), Whistle (A2) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Donald Fagen]
Backing Vocals – Clydie King (A1, B1, D1), Rebecca Louis (A1, D1), Sherlie Matthews (A1, B1, D1), Venetta Fields (A1, B1, D1), Tim Schmit (A2, C2, D2), Michael McDonald (C1, D1), Paul Griffin (C1)
Tenor Saxophone – Wayne Shorter (A2) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Wayne Shorter]
Drums – Steve Gadd (A2) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Steve Gadd]
Tenor Saxophone – Tom Scott (A1), Pete Christlieb (B1)
Drums – Paul Humphrey (A1), Bernard Purdie (B1, C2), Rick Marotta (C1), Ed Greene (D1), Jim Keltner (D2)
Bass – Chuck Rainey (A1-2, C1-2, D1-2), Walter Becker (B1)
Clavinet – Joe Sample (A1), Don Grolnick (C1)
Electric Piano – Victor Feldman (A1, B1, D2), Joe Sample (A2), Paul Griffin (C1)
Piano – Michael Omartian (A2), Victor Feldman (C2, D1)
Percussion – Victor Feldman (A2, C1), Gary Coleman (C1), Jim Keltner (D2)
Guitar – Lee Ritenour (B1), Larry Carlton (A1, B1, C2, D2), Denny Dias (A2), Larry Carlton (A2), Walter Becker (A2), Steve Khan (C1), Dean Parks (D1-2)
Solo Guitar – Jay Graydon (C1), Walter Becker (C2, D1-2), Larry Carlton (D1)
Lyricon – Tom Scott (C1)
Vibraphone – Victor Feldman (C2, D1)
Guitar – Dean Parks (D2), Larry Carlton (D2)
Jim Horn, Bill Perkins, Plas Johnson, Jackie Kelso – saxophones, flutes
Chuck Findley, Lou McCreary, Dick Hyde – brass
Horn arranged by Tom Scott
All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
2 LPs, box set, gatefold on heavy cardboard stock, premium slipcase with a wooden dowel spine
Limited to 25,000 numbered copies
Original analog Master tape : NO (tape copy)
UHQR
Heavy Press : 200g
Record color : Clear vinyl
Speed : 45RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : ABC
Recorded late 1976–July 1977 at Producers' Workshop (Hollywood), Sound Labs (Hollywood), Village Recorder (West Los Angeles), Warner Bros. (Burbank), ABC (New York City) and A&R (New York City)
Engineered by Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner, Al Schmitt, Bill Schnee
Produced by Gary Katz
Mastered by Bernie Grundman
Originally released in September 1977
Reissued in 2023
Tracks:
Side A:
- Black Cow
- Aja
Side B:
- Deacon Blues
Side C:
- Peg
- Home At Last
Side D:
- I Got The News
- Josie
Awards:
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Ranked 63/500
Colin Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums - Ranked 118
In July 1978, Aja won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical
Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003
Reviews :
“Steely Dan hadn't been a real working band since Pretzel Logic, but with Aja, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's obsession with sonic detail and fascination with composition reached new heights. A coolly textured and immaculately produced collection of sophisticated jazz-rock, Aja has none of the overt cynicism or self-consciously challenging music that distinguished previous Steely Dan records. Instead, it's a measured and textured album, filled with subtle melodies and accomplished, jazzy solos that blend easily into the lush instrumental backdrops. But Aja isn't just about texture, since Becker and Fagen's songs are their most complex and musically rich set of songs -- even the simplest song, the sunny pop of "Peg," has layers of jazzy vocal harmonies. In fact, Steely Dan ignores rock on Aja, preferring to fuse cool jazz, blues, and pop together in a seamless, seductive fashion. It's complex music delivered with ease, and although the duo's preoccupation with clean sound and self-consciously sophisticated arrangements would eventually lead to a dead end, Aja is a shining example of jazz-rock at its finest.” Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
UHQR :
UHQR pressing is inspired from JVC Japan, which 30 years ago was the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl. Each UHQR vinyl is pressed, using hand-selected vinyl, on a manual Finebilt press with attention paid to every single detail of every single record. The 200-gram records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable. From the lead-in groove to the run-out groove, there is no pitch to the profile, allowing your stylus to play truly perpendicular to the grooves from edge to center. Every UHQR is hand-inspected upon pressing completion, and only the truly flawless are allowed to go to market.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs : 4.52 / 5