Donald Fagen – Record-facts…

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Steely Dan has set the “Absolutely Normal Tour ’21,” which begins, on October 5th. The U.S. tour will hit 15 cities over 28 concerts before wrapping on November 20th.
In addition, Steely Dan’s “Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” and a live version of Donald Fagen’s acclaimed 1982 solo album “The Nightfly” will both be released through UMe on September 24th.
(Both albums will also be available on 180g vinyl on October. 1st.)
Donald Fagen has simultaneously released these two new live albums — one under the nearly 50-year-old banner of Steely Dan; one billed as a solo album — that revive some of the most pungently written and exquisitely arranged and played music of the 20th century.
“Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” is the first official live album of material from that band … sans the late Walter Becker, of course, who died in 2017, but performed by Fagen with a crackerjack ensemble that makes it sound as fresh as it ever has.
“The Nightfly Live,” alternativly, uses that same big band to revive the full track list from Fagen’s 1982 solo debut, which ranks alongside “Aja” and other Steely Dan classics in the minds of most fans.

The first live Steely Dan album in more than 25 years, “Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!” was recorded across tour dates at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, The Met Philadelphia, and more, and showcases selections from the band’s extraordinary catalogue.
Fagen’s “The Nightfly Live” was performed live by the Steely Dan Band

Fagen: Back in the fall of 2019, we were at the end of the tour and had 16 more shows, and the band was sounding so good. We’d been out for a couple months, and I thought it should be documented.
In a way, I wanted to show off the band. The band we have now has been together like four times longer than the original Steely Dan band, so we really jibe on stage.
So I asked the front-of-house mixer if he could make a professional recording off the board, and he said, “I gotta run a few pieces of equipment, but I could do that.” And so he recorded the last 16 shows, a couple of which were “Nightfly” album shows.
I loved the way it was recorded: There was a lot of separation, and there wasn’t all this reverb you hear on a lot of live albums. It’s clean. And so I picked the best Steely Dan performances from a couple shows, and most of the “Nightfly” were from one night at the Beacon Theater, but there were a few other better performances I picked for a couple of the other tunes. And, yeah, I thought it came out really good.

Track listing