The Nightfly

Infobox Album |
Name = The Nightfly
Type = Album
Artist = Donald Fagen


Released = October 1982
Recorded = 1982
Genre = Jazz-Rock
Length = 38:46
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Producer = Gary Katz
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ig8e4j670wai~T1 link]
*Robert Christgau (A) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=donald+fagen link]
Last album =
This album = "The Nightfly"
(1982)
Next album = "Kamakiriad"
(1993)

"The Nightfly" is the first solo album by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in 1982. It was one of the first fully digital recordings of popular music.

In the UK the album was certified Platinum in 2004, despite only reaching #44 on the charts following its release. It has also gone platinum in America. This relatively low-key but long-lived popularity led the Wall Street Journal to dub the album "one of pop music's sneakiest masterpieces" upon the release of a 25th anniversary edition of "The Nightfly" in late 2007. [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119983831897376337.html Wall Street Journal: "'The Nightfly' Still Lives at 25" by Robert J. Toth] ]

Paul White, editor-in-chief of "Sound On Sound" Magazine, said "The Nightfly" "is always a good reference for checking out monitoring systems and shows what good results could be obtained from those early digital recording systems in the right hands." [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/05/24/industry_paul_white_interview_feature.shtml BBC: Big George's Business of Sound - Industry Interview: Paul White] ]

Track listing

All songs by Donald Fagen, except where noted

#"I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)" – 6:05
#"Green Flower Street" – 3:40
#"Ruby Baby" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 5:38
#"Maxine" – 3:50
#"New Frontier" – 6:23
#"The Nightfly" – 5:45
#"The Goodbye Look" – 4:47
#"Walk Between Raindrops" – 2:38

Personnel

*Donald Fagen - organ, synthesizer, harmonica, horn, keyboards, electric piano, vocals, background vocals, synthesizer harp
*Dave Bargeron - trombone, euphonium, horn, background vocals
*Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone
*Randy Brecker - trumpet, flugelhorn
*Larry Carlton - guitar
*Ronnie Cuber - horn, baritone saxophone
*Rick Derringer - guitar
*Frank "Harmonica Frank" Floyd - background vocals
*James Gadson - drums
*Ed Greene - drums
*Gordon Grody - vocals, background vocals
*Anthony Jackson - bass
*Steve Jordan - drums
*Steve Khan - acoustic guitar
*Abraham Laboriel - bass
*Daniel Lazerus - background vocals
*Will Lee - bass
*Hugh McCracken - guitar, harmonica
*Leslie Miller - vocals, background vocals
*Marcus Miller - bass
*Rob Mounsey - synthesizer, horn, keyboards
*Roger Nichols - percussion, special effects
*Michael Omartian - piano, keyboards, electric piano
*Dean Parks - guitar
*Greg Phillinganes - synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer bass
*Jeff Porcaro - drums
*Chuck Rainey - bass
*Zachary Sanders - vocals, background vocals
*Valerie Simpson - vocals, background vocals
*David Tofani - horn, alto saxophone
*Starz Vanderlocket - percussion, background vocals
*Paul Shaffer - organ

Production

*Producer: Gary Katz
*Engineers: Daniel Lazerus, Roger Nichols, Elliot Scheiner
*Assistant engineers: Robin Lane, Mike Morongell, Cheryl Smith, Wayne Yurgelun
*Mixing: Elliot Scheiner
*Mastering: Bob Ludwig
*Digital editing assistant: Mike Morongell, Wayne Yurgelun
*Project assistant: Ginger Dettman, Steve Pokorny, Steve Woolard
*Tracking: Elliot Scheiner
*Authoring: David Dieckmann, George Lydecker
*Sequencing: Roger Nichols
*Overdub engineer: Daniel Lazerus
*Horn arrangements: Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey
*Arranger: Donald Fagen
*Design: Greg Allen
*Art direction: Greg Allen, George Delmerico
*Liner notes: Donald Fagen
*Editorial supervision: Cory Frye
*Photography: James Hamilton
*Screen design: Andrew Thomas

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

* [http://donaldfagen.com/disc_nightfly.php Complete lyrics]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/05/24/industry_paul_white_interview_feature.shtml Brief discussion of the album]
* [http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/2/17/the-nightfly-revisited "The Nightfly Revisited"] by Ted Gioia, [http://www.jazz.com Jazz.com] .