(2020) Andrew Green – Dime Dancing  The Music of Steely Dan


Review:
No fool he, Andrew Green‘s perfectly aware some might regard the idea of covering Steely Dan foolhardy. On the inner sleeve, he himself concedes that “there was no way to write anything in the style they had meticulously crafted (and famously so) that would equal, much less be an improvement on, their recorded output.” So why do it? In his mind the fact that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s tunes are so well-constructed and the lyrics so opaque “made it worth trying.” Certainly one of the smartest things the Brooklyn-based guitarist did was not replicate the originals but instead create stylistic makeovers so radical they’d discourage comparisons. Green’s versions hold up as credible homages that Steely Dan diehards and those less invested can both appreciate. His guitar (electric and acoustic) doesn’t dominate, but, as the project’s arranger, curator, and conceptualist, he’s clearly the one pulling the strings. He surrounded himself with a stellar cast of musicians, three of who have had their own excellent releases—violinist Meg Okura, cellist Jody Redhage, and bassist Jorge Roeder. The most prominent sonic element, however, is singer Miriam Waks, whose assured delivery is front and centre throughout. She brings a soulfulness and humanity to each performance and, Green aside, is the face, so to speak, of the recording. Obviously her voice isn’t as distinctive as Fagen’s (whose is?), but this versatile singer leaves a strong mark nonetheless. Others taking part include Lois Martin and Zach Brock (strings), Kenny Berger and Dan Wieloszynski (woodwinds), Dave Smith and Lolly Bienenfeld (horns), and Richie Barshay (drums, percussion). Green’s detailed liner notes confirm what the music shows, that each song was methodically considered in its reimagining—though not so much that life went missing from the performances. That we’ve relocated to a dramatically different realm is obvious the moment “Black Cow” opens with Waks accompanied by cello, violin, and oboe in a neo-Baroque treatment. Soon enough, though, the groove turns funky with the addition of the rhythm section, the sum-total a heady new take on the original. In a dramatic overhaul, Green recasts “Reelin’ in the Years” as a ponderous, woodwinds-heavy ballad, the original’s rousing shuffle light years away. Even more bold is “Everything You Did,” which in Green’s hands becomes a jazzy cabaret number that sounds like something heard at a seedy Berlin club in 1920. Replete with bongos and spiked by Santana-esque guitar phrasings, the salsa-fied “Any World (That I’m Welcome To)” is one of the album’s more infectious numbers. As winning is “Dirty Work,” which, with accordionist Rob Curto involved, plays like some swinging samba-and Zydeco hybrid. Delivered at a slower tempo than the original, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” becomes a moody ballad, with Waks’s heartfelt vocal nicely augmented by woodwinds and acoustic guitar. To these ears, the only treatment that doesn’t wholly succeed is “Aja,” though it’s not for lack of trying on Green’s part as the elaborate, classical-tinged treatment is as thoughtfully handled as anything else. In this case, however, the remarkable original is so definitive, especially when elevated by towering contributions from Wayne Shorter and Steve Gadd, it might have been better for Green to have gone with something like “Kid Charlemagne” or “Doctor Wu” instead (though the original performances of them are iconic too). That said, his “Aja” does impress for its pairing of classical strings and woodwinds with Glass-like pulsations and gamelan-influenced rhythms. Green shows that even songsmiths as revered as Fagen and Becker shouldn’t be regarded as untouchable and neither should their songs be treated as sacred cows. Artists regularly cover The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, and others without feeling like they’re breaking some unwritten law, so Green’s right in thinking Steely Dan should be as amenable to interpretation. Dime Dancing certainly makes a compelling argument for doing so.


Tracklist:
01 - Black Cow
02 - Aja
03 - Any World (That I'm Welcome To)
04 - Reelin' in the Years
05 - Dirty Work
06 - Daddy Don't Live in That NYC No More
07 - Everything You Did
08 - Rikki Don't Lose That Number


Media Report:
Genre: chamber pop, jazz
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits