Donald Fagen - The Nightfly: Live (2021) [Hi-Res]

Donald Fagen’s 1982 solo debut The Nightfly picked up where his work with Steely Dan left off, albeit with a more autobiographical lyrical bent. The recording by producer Gary Katz, engineer Roger Nichols, and mixing engineer Elliot Scheiner took full advantage of early digital capabilities to bring Fagen’s sly, jazz-pop compositions to life. The album yielded the hits “I.G.Y.” and “New Frontier,” netted seven Grammy nominations, and was certified Platinum in the U.S. and in the U.K., as well. Now it’s returning in a start-to-finish live performance by The Steely Dan Band from 2019.

"The Nightfly" is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Donald Fagen. Produced by Gary Katz, it was released October 1, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. Fagen was previously best known for his work in the group Steely Dan, with whom he enjoyed a successful career in the 1970s. The band separated in 1981, leading Fagen to pursue a solo career. Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it was Fagen's first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker.

Steely Dan helped define the soundtrack of the '70s with hits such as "Reeling in the Years", "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," "Peg," "Deacon Blues," "Babylon Sisters," and "Hey Nineteen," culled from their seven platinum albums issued between 1972 and 1980 (including 1977's groundbreaking Aja). Both their sound and their notoriety survived the '80s despite Becker and Fagen's only occasional surfacing for a solo project. They reunited as Steely Dan in the early '90s, touring successfully throughout the decade and releasing a live album in 1995 (Alive In America). In 2000 they released their multi-GRAMMY® winner, Two Against Nature, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.