Back to Fleece Jazz last Wednesday but a very different vibe as we saw the Steely Jazz Quintet who, as the name implies, reimagined a range of Steely Dan numbers within the jazz environment. Actually not that much of a stretch really, as Becker and Fagan were rooted as much in jazz as they were in rock, pop, blues and even a little funk; and of course, they were really immersed in jazz big time by the release of ‘Aja’, when Dan were in essence Becker and Fagan with an assortment of session players and sidemen.
The overnight hotel stay was as fine as ever and so I won’t go into detail, other than to mention it was another hotel Jazz Fleece offer. Anyway, that’s enough flim flam, on to the gig. I have to say I was intrigued, nay, excited to see how this quintet would interpret the Steely Dan canon, especially since this particular household owns a very large proportion of the band’s catalogue. And by now we are of course knowingly aware of jazz’s proclivity for assembling an assortment of musicians into a temporary ensemble for a specific type of event or particular style of performance. Although, it has to be said, in this particular example, Steely Jazz are playing a fair number of gigs (one might almost say tour) and have also recorded an album of Steely Dan tunes under the guise of the Chris Ingham Quintet, simply called “Walter • Donald“.
The specific “musician amalgam” that played here was as follows:-
| Artist | Instrument |
|---|---|
| Chris Ingham | Piano / Vocal / Guitar |
| Harry Greene | Saxophone / Guitar |
| Paul Higgs | Trumpet / Piano |
| Geoff Gascoyne | Double Bass |
| George Double | Drums / Vocals / Congas |
This most definitely wasn’t a tribute act, but rather an evening of reinterpretations and it’s a great deal riskier than dutifully and faithfully replicating the original performances. Chris Ingham and band members bring it off superbly with his rearrangements of, I think, 16 songs. (I may be wrong on the number so don’t shoot me, I’m only the piano player). Speaking of the personnel involved, I was both surprised and delighted to see the musicians switch instruments on a number of occasions throughout the set – Harry Greene (saxophone to guitar), Paul Higgs (trumpet to piano), Chris Ingham (piano to guitar) and even George Double (Drums, Congas and backing vocals). Any regular readers of this blog will know this is not the place for a forensic, detailed analysis of the music although even my ear can pick up on the irresistible horn riffs, enchanting piano and laconic vocals, along with the tongue in cheek presentation and quiet inventiveness of the evening.
Unsurprisingly, I prefer early to late Steely Dan (heresy I know), so favourites on the night included ‘Any Major Dude Will Tell You‘ and the encore ‘Reelin’ In The Years‘ from the debut “Can’t Buy A Thrill” album, where horns replaced the guitar solo found on the original; although Greene did solo on guitar to very fine effect on what was the fade out on the 1972 album track. Particular shout out to George Double, who did a very fine interpretation of Steve Gadd during the excellent rendition of “Aja“. Truth be told though, the entire set reeked of quality with the whole quintet ably demonstrating their chops throughout the evening.
After breakfast, we deferred our proposed diversion to Kersey village (maybe next time) and, having established we were in for another day of sweltering heat we set off for home without sparing the horses. We would gladly revisit performances from this quintet, both for their musicianship and for their unerring good taste in choosing to interpret such masterly writers and performers – just maybe not on the hottest day of the year next time though!