Aja marks the latest release in Geffen/UMe’s extensive reissue program of Steely Dan’s ABC and MCA Records catalog, which returns the band’s first seven records to vinyl – most of which haven’t been available since their original release. Overseen by founding member Donald Fagen, the series launched in November 2022 with the group’s 1972 debut, Can’t Buy A Thrill, followed by 1973’s Countdown To Ecstasy in May 2023. The band’s third album, 1974’s Pretzel Logic, was just released last month.
Aja has been remastered by Bernie Grundman from an analog, non-EQ’d, tape copy and will be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at 33 1/3 RPM. Additionally, Aja, like all the titles, is being released as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD). Visit here for more details and to order.
Pre-order Aja: https://steelydan.lnk.to/AjaVinylPR
Additional titles rolling out over the next year include 1975’s Katy Lied (featuring “Black Friday,” “Bad Sneakers” and “Doctor Wu,” as well as the addition of Michael McDonald on vocals); 1976’s The Royal Scam (“Kid Charlemagne,” “The Fez”); and Steely Dan’s final album for MCA, and last for 20 years, 1980’s Gaucho (featuring “Hey Nineteen” and “Time Out Of Mind,” with Mark Knopfler on guitar).
All albums in the series are being mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes except for Aja and Gaucho, with the later being sourced from a 1980 analog tape copy originally EQ’d by Bob Ludwig (There’s no evidence the original tapes containing the flat mixes of Aja and Gaucho were delivered to the record label and it’s presumed the tapes no longer exist). Lacquers for UMe’s standard 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram version will be cut by Alex Abrash at his renowned AA Mastering studio from high-resolution digital files of Grundman’s new masters and pressed at Precision. They will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.
The 45 RPM UHQR versions will be pressed at Analogue Productions’ Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, packaged in a deluxe box, and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a certificate of inspection. Each UHQR is pressed, using hand-selected vinyl, with attention paid to every single detail of every single record. All of the innovations introduced by QRP that have been generating such incredible critical acclaim are applied to each UHQR. The 200-gram records feature the same flat profile that helped to make the original UHQR so desirable.
Released in 1977, Aja (pronounced Asia) marked Steely Dan’s sixth album in just five years. Alongside longtime producer Gary Katz, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker recorded Aja, a seven-song statement that blended jazz with progressive pop and rock, over a year and a half in six different studios in Los Angeles and New York. The duo, retired from touring and now true songwriting partners, recruited dozens upon dozens of session players.
Nearly forty musicians and vocalists played on the seven-track, forty-minute album including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarists Dean Parks, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Jay Graydon and Steve Khan, drummers Bernard Purdie, Ed Greene, Jim Keltner, Rick Marotta and Steve Gadd and Victor Feldman and Joe Sample on keys. Timothy B. Schmit and Michael McDonald both contributed backing vocals to several songs.
The album became their fast seller to date and gave the band their first platinum record, eventually going on to double platinum. Bolstered by two Top 20 hits, “Peg,” which hit No. 11 and stayed on the charts for more than a year, and “Deacon Blues,” which climbed to No. 19, plus the Top 40 single, “Josie,” (No. 26), the album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200.
Aja won the GRAMMY for Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and was also nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. In 2003, Aja was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame and in 2010 it was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.
Track listing:
Side A
1.Black Cow
2. Aja
3. Deacon Blues
Side B
1. Peg
2. Home At Last
3. I Got The News
4. Josie
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