Steely Dan ~ Aja 1977 Jazz Funk Purrfection Version

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"Aja" is Steely Dan's sixth studio album that pushed the boundaries of pop music where the band continued their drive to experiment with longer and more sophisticated compositions.

The album peaked at #3 in the US and #5 in the UK becoming Steely Dan's most successful album ever that gave us the hits in "Peg", "Deacon Blues" and "Josie" taking the Grammy for Best Engineered Recording Non-Classical in 1978. It even made the Library Of Congress list of albums to preserve in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically or artistically significant."

"Aja" was never released as a single but it remains the showpiece of the album named for the jazz funk compilation that paid tribute to a family friend who was married to a woman named Aja. At the time the album was a shining example of the clarity and presence of sound that was the result of the exacting studio protocols of the duo. It was the most technically advanced album at the time.

Sadly, when time came to make a 5.1 version, the multitrack masters for "Black Cow" and "Aja" were missing so the project was cancelled as well as a planned SACD by Universal Music. Donald Fagen has offered a reward for the missing masters or any information that leads to their recovery.

Studio musicians were brought in to create the music the band heard in their head but were unable to produce even by themselves. The sonic perfection of the finished product resulted in accolades and frequent listings ranking the greatest albums of all time.

"Aja" was also the subject of a documentary "Classic Albums" that did a song by song review of the classic album that thouroughly detailed the travails and successes of completing the album. You can watch it on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sdMV9TzMkc.
Category
Funky