
Morph The Cat
Release Year: 2006
Label: Reprise⁄Wea
Country: USA
Produced by Donald Fagen
Musicians:
Donald Fagen: Lead & Background Vocals, Organ, Piano, Melodica
Wayne Krantz, Jon Herington, Hugh McCracken, Frank Vignola, Ken Emerson, Ken Wessel: Guitars
Freddie Washington, Harlan Post Jr.: Bass
Ted Baker: Piano
Art Smith, Keith Carlock: Drums
Bashiri Johnson, Gordon Gottlieb, Joe Passaro: Percussion
Illinois Elohainu: Marimbas, Vibraphone
Illinois Elohainu: Flute
Lawrence Feldman: Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone
Howard Levy: Harmonica
Mark Patterson: Trombone
Marvin Stamm: Trumpet
Roger Rosenberg: Clarinet, Saxophone
Walt Weiskopf: Saxophone
Jennifer Battista, Eddie Jackson, Camille Meza, Candice Predham: Clappers
Jerry Barnes, Cindy Mizelle, Carolyn Leonhart, Amy Helm, Gordon Gottlieb: Background Vocals
The King is back. The man is a genius..Not only is it an outstanding album,the sound and the mixing is something special.Fagen rules !
This is "The nightfly" part II! Musically wise. The topics are a little different and definitely have to do with the collective fear after 9/11. Don faces death, attempted suicides, Darkness, Endgames everywhere, while the songs never sound depressing, but come as clean and easy smooth-jazzrockers. And there's this typical melody by piano or organ that we've come to know and love for some 35 years now. Brilliant! Definitely a Top-3-CD among 2006 releases.
No one can accuse this guy of releasing solo-albums too often. This is his third album in 24 years. The sound is typical Donald Fagen with lots of electric piano, fantastic vocal arrangements and cool solos. “Morph The Cat” gives us 8 new songs in that same familiar style. His typical blend of cool pop-melodies with a jazzy touch has kept the listeners spellbound for decades, not only because of his solo work but mainly through his contributions as 50% of Steely Dan (as if anybody out there didn’t know that already). If I have to rate it after a few listens I would place right in the middle between the 2 earlier solo efforts. “The Nightly” is my number one and “Kamakiriad” is a close third. Too bad that we always have to wait so long for albums, but if he keeps making them this good I will definitely be able to wait. With Mr Fagen, it’s always worth it.
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