Steely Dan have released another taster for the upcoming live album Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!, in the form of an eight-minute version of “Aja.” It follows the appearance last month of two other songs from the impending set, “Hey Nineteen” and “Reelin’ In The Years.”
The track, recorded live at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, will feature on the in-concert album, due on September 24 and captured at various venues also including the Beacon Theater in New York City, The Met in Philadelphia, and others. It’s one of two upcoming live releases from the Steely Dan camp on that date, alongside Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live, which was also played by the Steely Dan Band. 180 gram vinyl editions of both albums will follow on October 1.
“Aja,” written as ever by Fagen and his late creative partner Walter Becker, was the title track of Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning sixth album, released in the fall of 1977. Honored as Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, the LP reached No.3, their highest-ever ranking, in the Billboard album charts. It also climbed to a career-best No.5 in the UK and the Top 10 in Holland and New Zealand. Aja, with its 40-strong line-up of contributing musicians, was certified double platinum for shipments of two million copies in the US. It included two Top 20 US pop singles in “Peg” and “Deacon Blues.”
Northeast Corridor is Steely Dan’s first live album in 25 years, and the band will play selected tracks from it and other hits on their Absolutely Normal tour of the US, which is set to begin on October 5 and run until November 20. From next Ma into early July, they will again tour with Steve Winwood on another wide selection of American dates. All details can be seen at the official Steely Dan website.
Pre-order Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!, which is released on September 24.