Fear Not the Slippery Slope: Aja

 
Knowing what I know now, that Steely Dan's Aja represented a slippery slope toward a full immersion into smooth jazz, I feared listening to it again. But I picked up a copy a few weeks ago, and the damn thing is a masterpiece, wall to wall with snapping grooves, sinuous guitar, diverse sonic textures (some synthesized), apt horn section riffs (as in "Peg"), and trademark verbiage such as "sensations, libations, that stagger the mind." All of it presented in such an original way as to nullify the smooth jazz slur. Among many highlights, it includes perhaps their most ambitious cut ever, the title track, which features a fearsome Wayne Shorter tenor sax solo and phenomenal, legendary drumming from Steve Gadd, both under Shorter's ride and over the out choruses. The cut "Deacon Blues" is one of just a handful of "sincere" songs* in their entire catalog, and, as a rarity, moving as hell. "They got a name for the winners in the world / I want a name when I lose / They call Alabama the Crimson Tide / Call me Deacon Blues." Done.

* Others include "Brooklyn" from their first LP and "Katy Lied" from the album of that name.