Melos das Antigas Internacional

Blues

Danish

For full liner notes and bonus content visit http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Steely-Dan.aspx

Steely Dan

Donald Fagen Band - Here At The Western World (2006-03-07)

My smooth jazz guitar version of the Steely Dan classic. I play all instruments except drums.

Hey! Why not visit http://www.bennysutton.com to hear and download many more great sounds like this?

I've got a page devoted to Steely Dan where I talk about how to play their great guitar solos 
http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Steely-Dan-Guitar-Solos.aspx


Steely Dan ---- Peg (free download by clicking the 'buy' button)

HEY! Like this? Then why not visit 
http://www.bennysutton.com 
to hear and download many more great sounds like this?

I've got a page devoted to Steely Dan where I talk about how to play their great guitar solos 
http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Steely-Dan-Guitar-Solos.aspx

'Josie' is another Steely Dan classic off the 1977 album 'Aja'. 

Steely Dan ---- Josie

HEY! check out my website. I have a page devoted to Steely Dan
 http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Steely-Dan-Guitar-Solos.aspx


Deacon Blues is another classic Steely Dan track off the Aja album.

Guitarists love Steely Dan because they integrated the instrument into their studio productions so beautifully. In the process they gave the world at least 10 of the top 50 guitar solos of all time!

What's the secret of a Steely Dan guitar solo? Find out at http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Steely-Dan-Guitar-Solos.aspx 

download

Steely Dan ---- Deacon Blues

Steely Dan studies part 2: 

Jimmy: vocals (visit his fine cloud at @j-rivas)

Dirk: violins, viola, production

Instruments used: 

Violin built by Anton Piegendorfer 1902
Violin silver bow built by L.Morizot
Viola built by Jean de la Feniere 1981 (played with the friendly permission of my sister Anja Radloff)
Viola silver bow built by Richard Grünke (played with the friendly permission of my sister Anja Radloff)

I grew up with the art of string-quartet. My father played cello and each sunday he invited friends for chamber-music. He knew many enthusiastic amateur and professional musicians and it became a fixed ritual at home, that musicians came in at sunday (always at 3pm). He organized different sections like Piano-trio, piano-quartet, Octet with brass and woodwinds, but the classic string-quartet together with three friends always remained the basic core.
When the musicians arrived my mother baked some fine cakes. My earliest remembrances are those sundays filled with music and the smell of cake and coffee. I started to play violin at the age of five and around the age of ten me and my little sister were allowed to join the circle and I made my first experiences playing classical music surrounded by tall men.
Later the friends of my father disappeared one by one, I came up through the ranks until I entered the seat of the first violin at home. More and more my own friends from school occupied the other seats at home, but the sunday's ritual still functioned, and my father played cello then surrounded by young boys and girls.

Raised up with chamber-music I became a big admirer of this kind of classical music. Chamber music is less known than the big operas and symphonies, but composers like Beethoven, Schubert, Reger, Debussy and others are acting more progressive and personal within this genre compared to the big works, which are more focused on the the listeners expectations and public success. In my personal opinion for an example Beethoven's best works are not his symphonies and piano-concerts he is known for.

About the cover: "Throw back the little ones" was published on "Katy lied", an album of the middle period of Steely Dan. As always the meaning of the lyrics is dark and the listener is forced to interpretate. One possible interpretation could be, to see the song as an undercover cop story. The main character "act like I belong here" and the "little ones" and "big ones" could be his informants in the scene. 
This is a less well-known Steely Dan-song, but one of my favorites, probably because there are so many classical elements hidden here, from the baroque-like sequenced intro-melody to the Debussy chord-shifts and sound-paintings in the bridge and at the end. And there is another thing, which reminds me on string-quartet: The independence of the voices during the middle-section. There are many string-quartet arrangements of popular music on the market, but often I just miss the lyrics and the vocals. It's the hardest part of a song-arrangement to transfer the vocals to an instrument. The vocal-melodies of Rock and Pop-music are often simple and depending on the lyrics. It's very hard to transform the vocals to an interesting instrument-part without changing the melody too much. That's the reason because I have arranged for string-quartet plus singer, because pure string-quartet arrangements of Rock-music are often not satisfying.
Again I am very happy to work with J.Rivas, who also loves the music of Steely Dan.

Recording notes: First I programmed the cello-part using the great VSL-library. Then I heavily modified the tempo-curve to achieve natural rubato and ritardando. Then I added a click-track and recorded the viola (Many thanks to my sister, who borrowed her viola), then the second and first violin.

All rights of the arrangement reserved by heartscore-music/ Dirk Radloff July /2015



Throw back the little ones (Steely Dan cover with J.Rivas)

Steely Dan studies part 4:

Jimmy: vocals (visit his fine cloud at @j-rivas)

Dirk: guitar, arrangement, production

Instruments used: Ibanez FRM100, VSL Special edition 1

Bodhisattva appeared on their second album "Countdown to ecstasy" in 1973. The song itself is a wild mixture of a basic Rock'n roll, Progressive Rock and Jazz. The ultra-fast tempo, the swing-feeling and the instrumental show-offs point to an ancestor of Rock'n Roll: Jump blues.
The Jump blues genre was developed by big bands like the one of Lionel Hampton. The steady beat should animate to dance and the new style became popular in the late 1940 to 1950.

If you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_blues

The center of the Steely Dan song is the famous guitar-solo by Denny Dias. Dias plays very much a Bebop-solo here and how he creates a climax and how he is driving through the chord-changes is just breathtaking. The beginning and end of "Bodhisattva" showcases pure progressive rock/ Jazz Rock. The theme is presented by harmonized guitars before going into the "Jump blues"-section, which is the real song behind all the guitar-stunts. At the end the song ends with another guitar-solo, less well-known than the middle one. So pretty much guitar-stuff …

About the cover: My intention is to reduce "Bodhisattva" to the basic song and to accent the Jump-blues influence. So I have cut the long Instrumental Intro and Outro and written a new beginning and end more in a Jump blues/Rockabilly-style to fit better to the real song. I added a small brass-section of two muted trumpets remembering the big-band-era. I have reduced the tempo from the original 220bpm to 168bpm for two reasons: I wanted to play the original solo exactly and I am not able to play it at 220bpm, so the solo is now more lyrical (though it's still fast), but maybe you can better hear details of this wonderful guitar-solo. Second with all the cuts the song had been too short, at the tempo of 168bpm I get a nice classic three-minute-song. In the middle of the solo suddenly it moves into a very melodic break-section and I tried to focus on the beauty of this part with additional trumpet-arrangements.

Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Can you show me
The shine of your Japan
The sparkle of your china
Can you show me
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there
To shine in your Japan
To sparkle in your China
Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva

Music and lyrics by Donald Fagen/ Walter Becker

All rights of this arrangement reserved by heartscore-music/ Dirk Radloff/ September 2015


Buy the original

Bodhisattva (Steely Dan cover with J.Rivas)

Steely Dan studies part 5: The last cover of this little tribute to Steely Dan and again many thanks to Jimmy Rivas for joining this project with his exceptional voice.
Don't hesitate to enjoy the full set at 

https://soundcloud.com/heartscore/sets/steely-dan-tribute

Jimmy: vocals (visit his fine cloud at @j-rivas)

Dirk: Arrangement, Production

Instruments used: VSL Special edition 1

The album "Aja" released 1977 is probably the most radical and at the same time one of the most successful recordings of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The Steely Dan factors smoothness, Jazz-influence and sophistication are expanded to a new maximum. The lyrics are as dark and ambiguous as ever and the production-quality is to die for. Just use "Aja" as a reference for mixing and you will get better results.
"Deacon blues" is one of the highlights: The song tells about a saxophone-player and as always The Dans are uncovering the dark sides of the Jazz-scene. I read a very convincing interpretation somewhere, where a guy said, that the narrator in "Deacon blues" is dead. The "shade" is a ghost, he is going to heaven and expanding into the universal cosmos. Before he wanted to become a bluesman and before he is even learning an instrument (the saxophone) he already assimilating to the Jazz-lifestyle, drinking, drugs, women. And before he can play something he dies in a car accident. The lyrics during the chorus are setting a brutal contrast between the clean life of the normal society (Alabama crimson tide, a football team) and the romantic dark life in the Jazz-scene (call me deacon blues). And this song is just so beautiful, one of the best chorus ever written …

"As midlife-crisis songs go, Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" ranks among the most melodic and existential." -- The Wall Street Journal

About the cover: The opulence of the original delivers more than enough material for orchestration: The rich chord-progressions, the slight bigband-touch, the melodic fills. So I have not created much additional material for the orchestra-arrangement. This was my first experience with Midi-orchestration and my respect for all people here at SC, which are producing hollywood-style full orchestra-tracks has grown while working on this one. Not because of the arranging-process, this happened pretty fast within a few days. But the hard work comes after it, when you have to bring the Midi-track to life in the sequencer. It takes hours and hours of editing velocities, key-switches and timing until you end with an acceptable result.

Photos used:

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rotterdams_Philharmonisch_Orkest-2011.jpg
2. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Young#/media/File:Lester_Young_%28Gottlieb_09441%29.jpg

All rights of the arrangement reserved by heartscore-music/ Dirk Radloff July 2015


Deacon Blues (Steely Dan cover with J.Rivas)

This is one of the top 10 Steely Dan all time tracks with one of the top 5 guitar all time solos on the original (by Skunk Baxter). My version starts off with the Hammond organ center stage. I recreate the original Skunk Baxter solo note for note but in my own style. Verse two goes acoustic. The second guitar solo is what I would have played if I had been on the session! Originally on the 1973 album Countdown to Ecstacy.

download album

Steely Dan ---- My Old School (downloadable)

Not strictly a Steely Dan Track this is from Donald Fagen's Nightfly album. However it's as close as he gets to classic Steely tracks. I always thought Fagen wrote it but it is actually a cover they did of a Leiber Stoller song. They know a good song when they see one.
My approach is to jump genres with the beats; there's Dubstep and Disco there! Some horns and a clavinet bassline later and - Voila! The Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. version was originally recorded by The Drifters and was released on a single by Atlantic Records in 1956


Steely Dan ---- Ruby Baby (downloadable)

This track, when the Steelies first released it, was marked by its distinctive 'voicebox' guitar, quite an innovation at the time when it was initially released Technology has moved on so much since the original track was recorded. 
The original voice box was a tube attached to your amp the sound from which went up a plastic tube and you mouthed vowels etc with your mouth close to a microphone. I have a pedal with a superb setting that does in digitally! I don't use it often but when I do I love it. So you get a clean guitar solo and a voice box one too for the same money! 
I always wondered why the almost reggae beat - that would mean it was called Jamaican Divorce! Slick move Donald to not do the obvious).
source http://www.songfacts.com
The lyrical meaning of the original refers to the odd practice of going to Haiti for a quickie divorce. You could go to Vegas for a quickie marriage, but what if you want a quickie divorce? In the early '70s, Haiti made it easy, allowing foreigners to divorce with hardly any restriction; the big sell was that only one member of the married party had to be present and request it.
For Haiti, this was a tourism ploy, as travel agents would send Americans looking for a quick and easy divorce to the island, where they would often spend some time on a resort. In many cases, these divorces were requested so that the person could immediately get remarried - a service Haiti also provided. So it was not uncommon for a married man to show up in Haiti with his mistress, get a divorce, and marry the new girl all in the course of a weekend. .Donald Fagan talked about the Haitian divorce in a 1976 interview with Sounds. Said Fagen: "It's a fierce and terrible ritual. I'll tell you that. You wouldn't want your sister to have a Haitian divorce, believe me. It was the quick 'divorce, without too much red tape. If you can say 'incompatibility of character' in French you're as good as gold. But we added a few elements to the ceremony itself."
In this song, it's the woman who goes to Haiti for her divorce. She has some fun while she is there, and presumably hooks up with a local - their sex scene is implied in cinematic terms in the lines:

    Now we dolly back
    Now we fade to black

    When she returns to America, she is pregnant, as Fagen sings, "Some babies grow in a peculiar way."
    The girl in this song drinks a zombie from a coconut shell, which at the time was a very typical island experience. A zombie is a rum-based cocktail that was popular at the time - an alternative to the Pina Colada.


Steely Dan ---- Haitian Divorce

HAL is a great little groove. Very typical Steely Dan chord progressions. I manage to play a lot of the melody on guitar during this track. Some Steely tracks melodies can be limited to a couple of notes for the vocals (e.g. Black Friday). This one has a beautiful melody, complete with those odd little passing notes and key changes we know and love (Becker/Fagen for).
I'm very pleased with the solo on this one. You can't beat the Steelies to improvise over. It's tough to play with such a clean sound and guitar tone but this you can get #in the pocket' of. It's bluesey, it's jazzy, and, as you know, I'm sparing with the number of notes I play per musical bar. I'm out to be the most expressive I can be - and that means making the most you can of the notes  you've got (and the silences between them).
At over five minutes this is one of the longest Steely track I have done!
Steely Dan Trivia... Apparently, this song is based lyrically on the epic novel The Odyssey by Homer. The hero, Ulysses, is trying to get home across the ocean after the Trojan War, but the gods keep making it difficult:
It's off the Aja album


Steely Dan ---- Home At Last

youtube.com/watch?v=_7zRLO4_5LI

Ace Spectrum - Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight

Lentas Completas (Melodias) O Som Romântico Da Black Music

Vive l'été - Long live summer 

01. Brock Berrigan - Rooftop Cookouts 
02. Pamplemousse Rose - Salade Niçoise
03. Madpressure - Tapioca
04. Poldoore - Paradise
05. 78edits - Let Me Down Easy
06. Sergio Mendes - Mas Que Nada (Tommy Tequila Bootleg)
07. LE Smooth - Used Me
08. Hotmood - Summer Groove
09. Chaka Khan - Never Miss the Water (AGFA Re-Dux)
10. Apparel Wax - 4
11. Doris Monteiro - Maita (Afterclapp Regroove)
12. Funk Destination - The Inside Man (Soopasoul Remix)
13. Igor Gonya - Draculito Mon Saigneur
14. Rafael Cancian - Seasons Affair (Pamplemousse Rose Edit)
15. Jehan - Don't Feed The Gators
16. Bubble Club - Violet Morning Moon (remix by Dr Dunks)
17. Vagues, Moët & Chandon

Dérive littorale

Check out my Soundcloud channel for my latest music releases. 
Love Guitar? You're in the right place!
I'm different! I play melodies - even when improvising!  
I'm really not interested in impressing other musicians. I'm creating music for everyone.
I'M ALSO HERE...
http://www.bennysutton.com
MY VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TJp0GyhYOnusiCGB8z4fG0T8G35gTTi
https://soundcloud.com/bennysutton_covers


ABOUT ME
I play the music I like to listen to. 
As a guitarist I like to think I have my own style.
Harmony, and the groove is what I'm chasing, hopefully with a tasteful, nuanced, and distinctive presentation. 
I don't have a genre as such. I could sort of call myself a smooth Jazz 'n' Blues guitar 'thang' but in reality every track crosses over multiple strands of R&B/Jazz/Funk/Pop. Don't be put off by my use of the "J" word. Jazz to me is anything unpredictable and I'm nothing if not contemporary. 
Rhythm playing is as much a part of my "game" as lead soloing. I love the Funk!
My main instrument is guitar. I play a 1973 Ovation Breadwinner, an Ibanez nylon stringed and a Yamaha keyboard loaded with Keyscape. Unless stated I play all the other instruments too (mostly Bass), and sequence MIDI and arrange/produce. 

MY JOURNEY
I was signed with Fresh Air records and EMI in the 1980's creating Jazz/funk dance tracks but things were just as challenging then as they are now for musicians so I got a 'proper job' for 20 years! During all that time my guitar was in the loft! I rediscovered music in 2010 and Soundcloud in 2014.


MY SOUNDCLOUD
I am grateful to Soundcloud listeners who take the time to press |>Play - and especially if you give me some feedback :-)
I hope what you hear will draw you in sufficiently to explore on my own website. Nearly all my original stuff (6 albums worth) are on www.BennySutton.com and all are downloadable.
Please don't follow me in hope of getting to get an automatic follow back. I don't do that because I only follow the smallest number of people I can keep track of. I'll have a look at your page but will only follow back if you are really of interest to me. See my follow list, you'll discover some very talented artistes, many of whom I have been lucky to Collab. Soundcloud really is the place to find the real innovators these days - not the music industry approved channels, especially MTV!
If you want to get my attention, send me a PM.

Steely Dan ---- My Old School (downloadable)

Benny Sutton