Preview: Steely Dan reels in the chips at The Venetian tonight through April 29
Despite a 12-year breakup in 1981, Steely Dan musicians Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have been making their jazz-rock music since 1972, and they’re still going strong with a nine-performance mini-residency at The Venetian from tonight through April 29.
When they reunited, they released two albums, the first of which, “Two Against Nature,” won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. For “Reelin’ in the Chips” at The Venetian, lead vocalist Donald also is on keyboards, while Walter handles backing vocals and guitars.
Both men were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Rolling Stone Magazine called them “the perfect musical anti-heroes for the ’70s.”
They will be joined onstage at The Venetian’s Opaline Theater with other brilliant and acclaimed musicians: Jon Herington on guitar, Keith Carlock on drums, Freddie Washington on bass, Jim Beard on keyboards, plus three backup vocalists and a four-piece horn section.
Over the nearly five-year decade of making incredible — and sometimes complicated — music, Steely Dan can call on an extraordinary catalog of infectious tunes, great grooves, bodacious harmonies, sleek and subversive lyrics and blazing solo work.
Donald and Walter promise that their classic songs will be mixed with diverse selections from their vise-like cohesion of virtuosity and versatility. They are known as “masters of obsession” in the recording studio.
Researching the group before their Venetian arrival, I was stunned to learn that their name hails from a sex toy. I never knew that they played for 18 months as members of Jay and The Americans, earning just $100 apiece per show until they quit when that salary was cut in half.
All a far cry from their “Reeling in the Years” pop-rock hit in 1972, and nobody will ever forget “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” that followed in 1974. As I said, Steely Dan has amassed an extraordinary catalog.
Donald still admits to occasional stage fright after all these years, which causes him sometimes to freeze vocally in front of his audience. But he says that won’t happen on this Las Vegas run, as they are looking forward to their stay on the Strip.
