Artist music similar to Donald Fagan?

halo71

Can someone recommend something? Might be a dumb question but thought I would ask anyways! lol
Something with punchy drums, smooth bass lines etc.


Yeah I am into the Guinness this afternoon!

heartystatue

How bout some Dire Straits? I really like some of there older stuff.

halo71

Thanks! I already got most of their stuff.

WLDock

He has one of those styles that can be similar to other jazz, rock, fusion artists but some of the stuff from those artist can go in a different direction musically. I would guess you already have Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, and Michael McDonald records? IMO, Boz Scaggs was the first to come to mind.... then on one of the other parts of the spectrum artist like Gino Vannelli has to be included. I remember hearing this stuff in middle school and early high school. I fell in love with Vannelli's tune "Love Me Now"...lots of dynamics, changes, and drums! I played drums and was just getting into different jazz/rock/fusion styles.

Anyway, with that kind of Steely Dan/ Fagen sound there still more directions of somewhat similar stuff....even records from the like of Al Jarreau, Michael Franks, Dave Sanborn and maybe one of my favorites Jeff Lober/Jeff Lober Fusion...these are all artists I listened to in college in the mid 80's. However, many of these records touch a different side of the genre(Fazz Funk for Lorber) ...but you might like them and some things have a similar feel. Still, the Jeff Lober Fusion is my personal all time favorite. Check these tracks out:

"Lights Out" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOdblH3qaKI

"Rain Dance" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNqfnZ24pSg


Anyway, Last FM is a nice site to find similar stuff: http://www.last.fm/music/Donald+Fagen/+similar?page=1

mhardy6647

All righty then... FWIW, when I think of Donald Fagen, I think "sardonic, smart, and cool" in that order. I don't, necessarily, come up with "lite jazz". So...I come up with (heavily biased to the sardonic, and in no particular order) - Mose Allison, Randy Newman, Frank Zappa, Patty Larkin, Ian Hunter, and... Kurt Weill. Mack the Knife, it doesn't get much sardonic-er nor much cooler than that!

EDIT: Yeah, Mark Knopfler is definitely in the running - e.g., the song Industrial Disease (is that the title)? :-)

EDIT^2: ooh, ooh - I forgot Harry Nilsson! His You're Breaking my Heart would be a good place to start :-)

Summerwind2

mhardy6647 wrote: »

All righty then... FWIW, when I think of Donald Fagen, I think "sardonic, smart, and cool" in that order. I don't, necessarily, come up with "lite jazz". So...I come up with (heavily biased to the sardonic, and in no particular order) - Mose Allison, Randy Newman, Frank Zappa, Patty Larkin, Ian Hunter, and... Kurt Weill. Mack the Knife, it doesn't get much sardonic-er nor much cooler than that!

EDIT: Yeah, Mark Knopfler is definitely in the running - e.g., the song Industrial Disease (is that the title)? :-)

EDIT^2: ooh, ooh - I forgot Harry Nilsson! His You're Breaking my Heart would be a good place to start :-)

I agree, Jeff was more "smooth jazz" If you like Fagen you may want to check-out; Jeff Beck "cause we ended as lovers" Joe Satriani, Jaco Pastoriuos. enjoy

4xoddic

Hmmmmmm, Fagen you say? Take the next door on the left & sample Bela Fleck And The Flecktones.

Bela Fleck And The Flecktones - Next

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFzZXvivo4c

Hoedown by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fu2s2H-hlc

Not Fagen, but you might gain a new appreciation for the BANJO . . . .

Summerwind2

4xoddic wrote: »

Hmmmmmm, Fagen you say? Take the next door on the left & sample Bela Fleck And The Flecktones.

Bela Fleck And The Flecktones - Next

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFzZXvivo4c

Hoedown by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fu2s2H-hlc

Not Fagen, but you might gain a new appreciation for the BANJO . . . .

or an appreciation for bass players who wear pirate hats. jk

mhardy6647

I am just imagining an alternative universe... with the hip, sardonic, ultra-cool Aja featuring gorgeously recorded, perfectly rendered banjo and accordion solos...

4xoddic

an alternative universe... with banjo and accordion solos ..... I think I missed that episode of Fringe. Although I have a black eye patch, I prefer my Lawrence Welk reruns with pirate hat & both eyes wide shut.

mhardy6647

Larry Carlton wailin' on the kazoo.

halo71

Some pretty cool stuff, thanks guys! Still not quite sure what that thing is the pirate is playing though. Thought it was an electronic bass but there is a bass player on the far left side of the stage.

4xoddic

That's Roy Wilfred Wooten, aka Future Man, the drummer. Look closely at the idle drum set in this youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbzuNWrgzJI

I've seen the Flecktones many times, but never noticed a drum set on stage before!

"At the heart of that music is RoyEl's ground breaking percussion technique performed on his first invention he calls the Drumitar. The guitar shaped Drumitar allows him to replicate sounds of an entire contemporary drum kit with just a few fingers."

http://www.flecktones.com/page/Futureman

The bassist is Futureman's brother, Victor Wooten redefines the word musician. Regaled as the most influential bassist since Jaco Pastorius, Victor is known for his solo recordings and tour

Fleck was a member of New Grass Revival. Caught them @ 6 Flags St. Louis in the early 80s. We've caught the Flecktones here in KS every chance we get. Fleck is classical trained:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B

WLDock

The Bela Flek & the Flecktones are awesome! I have several of their discs, Bela's & Wooten's discs....great music for great systems. I kick myself for missing their shows over the years. Saw them for the 1st time last year.

While their stuff goes all over the place in terms of style and a love all of it...even the stuff with the BlueGrass feel however, I fell in love with the track: 'Sojourn of Arjuna' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5Qd6uEWq8 Starts off with a slow funky groove as Futerman tells the story then it builds....give the system a great workout.

StantonZ

Michael Franks (especially Skin Dive and Camera Never Lies). In fact, many of his 80's releases use many of the same musicians/arrangers as Fagen/Steely Dan. He hasn't had anything worth buying since 1999.

halo71

A lot of great suggestions...thanks guys!

Franks is okay, will need more time checking him out. Now the Larry Carlton stuff is very cool. Especially the stuff with Robben Ford.

Sorta at the other end of the spectrum from what I initially asked about. But I like this stuff as well. Very cool video!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hkoA3O3oLCU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

WLDock

StantonZ wrote: »

Michael Franks (especially Skin Dive and Camera Never Lies). In fact, many of his 80's releases use many of the same musicians/arrangers as Fagen/Steely Dan. He hasn't had anything worth buying since 1999.

I also, thought some of the early Franks stuff has a similar feel. Your comments are interesting....as I saw him live in the late 80's early 90's but have not seen him since then nor have bought anything more recent of his.

gudnoyez

Walter Beckers solo albums 11 Tracks Of Whack, and Circus Money are as close as the Donald Fagen Steely Dan sound as your gonna get. Robben Ford cut his teeth on the Blues with the rest of his Family and also does fusion Jazz, however his stuff does not sound like any of Donald's stuff nor does Michael Franks stuff IMO. I love Ford and Franks stuff.

StantonZ

WLDock wrote: »

I also, thought some of the early Franks stuff has a similar feel. Your comments are interesting....as I saw him live in the late 80's early 90's but have not seen him since then nor have bought anything more recent of his.

I also saw him live in the same time frame, and (unfortunately) he didn't tour with ANY of the same musicians as played on his (studio) albums. Then again, the reason those albums were so good is due in part to the studio guys who played (and arranged) on them! Not many people can get Steve Gadd, Larry Carlton, Steve Khan, Will Lee, Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, and Michael Brecker (just to name a few) on the same album.