The Dukes of September

Last updated
The Dukes of September
Origin New York City, New York, United States
Genres R&B, blue-eyed soul, jazz rock
Years active2010–2012
Labels429 Records
Past members Donald Fagen
Michael McDonald
Boz Scaggs
with
Jon Herington
Freddie Washington
Shannon Forrest
Jim Beard
Jay Collins
Michael Leonhart
Walt Weiskopf
Carolyn Leonhart
Catherine Russell

The Dukes of September was an American supergroup, formed in 2010 featuring Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. The project was a resurrection of the previous New York Rock and Soul Revue which featured the same three musicians and played a combination of hits from the members' respective careers as well as a wide variety of covers.

Contents

Background

Donald Fagen and Michael McDonald began working together in the mid-1970s when McDonald would collaborate with Steely Dan, singing and playing keyboards on a lot of their material. The two worked together again during the early 1990s in the short lived New York Rock and Soul Revue which also included Boz Scaggs, Phoebe Snow, Eddie Brigati, David Brigati, Charles Brown, Walter Becker, Cornelius Bumpus and Mindy Jostyn. [1]

In 2010 it was announced that Fagen, McDonald and Scaggs would do a fall tour together as the Dukes of September. The band was rounded out by Steely Dan touring members, Jon Herington (guitar), Freddie Washington (bass), Michael White (drums, who was replaced by Shannon Forrest), Jim Beard (organ), Jay Collins (horns), Michael Leonhart (horns), Walt Weiskopf (horns), Carolyn Escoffery (vocals) and Catherine Russell (vocals). [2]

The tour kicked off on August 19, 2010, in Danbury, Connecticut. The band played a collection of hits from the members' careers as well as a wide variety of covers, notably three Band covers in a row. [1]

On June 14, 2012, the band performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to promote their 2012 summer concert tour.

PBS concert

A concert filmed at Lincoln Center in New York City in November 2012 was broadcast as a 90-minute Great Performances special on PBS in March 2014 and released at the same time on DVD and Blu-ray discs by 429 Records. Songs included:

  1. "People Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul"
  2. "Who's That Lady?"
  3. "Sweet Soul Music"
  4. "I Keep Forgettin'"
  5. "Kid Charlemagne"
  6. "The Same Thing"
  7. "Miss Sun"
  8. "You Never Can Tell"
  9. "What a Fool Believes"
  10. "Hey Nineteen"
  11. "Love T.K.O."
  12. "Peg"
  13. "Lowdown"
  14. "Takin' It to the Streets"
  15. "Reelin' in the Years"
  16. "Lido Shuffle"
  17. "Pretzel Logic"
  18. "Them Changes"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steely Dan</span> American rock band

Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Initially the band had a stable lineup but in 1974 Becker and Fagen retired from live performances to become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Paich</span> American musician

David Frank Paich is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the band's three most popular songs: "Hold the Line", "Rosanna", and "Africa". With Toto, Paich has contributed to 17 albums and sold over 40 million records. He and guitarist and singer Steve Lukather are the only members to appear on every studio album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Fagen</span> American musician

Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Becker</span> American musician, songwriter, and record producer

Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.

<i>Aja</i> (album) 1977 studio album by Steely Dan

Aja is the sixth studio album by the American jazz rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records on September 23, 1977. On the album, band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements.

<i>Katy Lied</i> 1975 studio album by Steely Dan

Katy Lied is the fourth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records in March 1975; reissues have been released by MCA Records since ABC Records was acquired by MCA in 1979. It was the first album the group made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald.

<i>Everything Must Go</i> (Steely Dan album) 2003 studio album by Steely Dan

Everything Must Go is the ninth and final studio album by American rock group Steely Dan. It was released on June 10, 2003, by Reprise Records, and was the band's second album following their 20-year studio hiatus spanning 1980 through 2000, when they released Two Against Nature. Everything Must Go is the band's most recent studio album and their last with founding member Walter Becker before his death in 2017.

<i>Two Against Nature</i> 2000 studio album by Steely Dan

Two Against Nature is the eighth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan. Their first studio album in 20 years, it was recorded from 1997 to 1999 and released on February 29, 2000, by Giant Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boz Scaggs</span> American musician

William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller in The Ardells in the early 1960s and the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael McDonald (musician)</span> American musician, singer, and keyboardist

Michael H. McDonald is an American singer, keyboardist and songwriter known for his distinctive, soulful voice and as a member of Steely Dan (1973–1974), and the Doobie Brothers. McDonald wrote and sang several hit singles with the Doobie Brothers, including "What a Fool Believes", "Minute by Minute", and "Takin' It to the Streets." McDonald has also performed as a prominent backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists including Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and Kenny Loggins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New York Rock and Soul Revue</span> US musical group

The New York Rock and Soul Revue was a musical project supergroup that evolved out of a series of concerts produced and promoted by singer-songwriter Libby Titus at the Lone Star Roadhouse, the Spectrum and other Northeast concert venues, eventually coalescing around unofficial "band leader" Donald Fagen from 1989–1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Herington</span> Musical artist

Jon Herington is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and session musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretzel Logic (song)</span> 1974 single by Steely Dan

"Pretzel Logic" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, released as a single by Steely Dan from their album Pretzel Logic, originally in 1974 by ABC Records. It reached number 57 in the Billboard charts.

<i>The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon</i> 1991 live album by Donald Fagen and others

The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon is a live album which documented the New York Rock and Soul Revue. It was recorded on March 1 and 2, 1991 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, a favorite venue of organizer Donald Fagen. The performances featured Fagen and included Phoebe Snow, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Eddie Brigati, David Brigati and Charles Brown. Selections on the album included a number of songs which were originally written and recorded by members of the revue, as well as other songs. The album was released by Giant Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Sneakers</span> 1975 single by Steely Dan

"Bad Sneakers" is a song by jazz rock band Steely Dan. It was released as the second single and track on their 1975 album Katy Lied. Producer Gary Katz later regretted not releasing the song as the first single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Russell (singer)</span> American jazz and blues vocalist

Catherine Russell is an American jazz and blues singer. She is best known for her 2016 album Harlem on My Mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Weiskopf</span> Musical artist

Walt Weiskopf is an American jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, author and educator. He has released sixteen albums as a leader, and performed on countless other albums as a sideman. He has collaborated with artists such as Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra and Steely Dan.

Drew Zingg is an American rock, blues, soul and jazz guitarist, best known for his performing with Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs.

References

  1. 1 2 Gary, Graff (14 June 2010). "Fagen, McDonald, Scaggs Join Forces For Rhythm Revue Tour". Billboard Magazine . Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  2. William, Chris (29 June 2012). "Dukes of September Rhythm Revue: Concert Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 20 October 2013.