Dukes of September returning to Vegas

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There’s a slinky New York alley where a horn section helps you get “Lowdown” in your white suit and your “Bad Sneakers.”

Two years ago, they called it “Shakedown Street.” The disco-era Grateful Dead tune was just one of many that melded perfectly into the downtown ’70s sensibility of The Dukes of September, the touring triumvirate of Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald and Donald Fagen.

The trio are due back Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel, where they visited in October 2010, fronting a crack team of Steely Dan-quality jazz-rock players.

Shared influences were revealed in almost interchangeable Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers and Scaggs solo hits. But more fun were the choice of cover tunes, from Ray Charles to The Band (likely to be remembered again after the passing of the singers’ friend, Levon Helm).

“Hopefully people will become interested in some of the older music, some of the older R&B that’s really great,” Fagen told the Review-Journal last time. “Most of the audience are just there to see a good band, and realize that, even if they’re not familiar with all the tunes, they appreciate that it’s really great music.”

And a joke about the Dukes reconvening seems one step closer to reality: “It could be the Siegfried & Roy of the 21st century.”

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.