"Gaucho" – Steely Dan

"Gaucho" – Steely Dan

Is Steely Dan's Gaucho more perfect than Aja? Maybe even ... too perfect? Two years in the studio. The greatest session musicians alive asked to play take after take after take until it was exactly right. And sometimes that STILL wasn't enough for Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.

On today's episode of You'll Hear It, jazz pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness are breaking down the 1980 album track by track: the jazz harmony hiding inside those smooth grooves, the abstract poetry of the lyrics, and the insane stories behind how this thing got made. Including the $150,000 drum machine invented specifically for this record, the interview quote that cost them a third of a song, and the drum track that took 85 takes and 35 tape edits to piece together.

And after all that, we didn't get another Steely Dan record for 20 years.

Was it worth it?

Read about the simple mistake that would haunt Steely Dan for 44 years in this week's edition of the You'll Read It newsletter: https://youllhearit.com/newsletter

Watch our FULL breakdown of Steely Dan's Aja: https://youtu.be/G10mYohR6T4

00:00 - Steely Dan's Gaucho: A Monument to Perfect
01:15 - "Babylon Sisters"
11:00 - What Makes Steely Dan Genius
13:35 - The Precision of Purdie's Drums on Babylon Sisters
16:10 - Abstract Lyrics
19:35 - "Hey Nineteen"
22:25 - Pristine Rhodes
25:25 - Isolated Vocal Stems on "Hey Nineteen"
33:00 - "Glamour Profession"
38:55 - The Mingus Influence
40:10 - "Gaucho"
43:20 - The Keith Jarrett Lawsuit
48:50 - Gaucho Chorus Deep Dive
54:10 - "Time Out Of Mind"
57:50 - Monument to Perfectionism (Lead Boots)
1:01:35 - Perfectionism and Jazz
1:05:05 - Is Gaucho More Perfect Than Aja?
1:06:25 - "My Rival"
1:10:40 - Bowie / Steely Dan Side-By-Side
1:14:00 - Too Fussy?
1:19:05 - Open Studio Plays "Glamour Profession"

Episoder(1250)

Kid A – Radiohead

Kid A – Radiohead

Check out Adam’s course for more on Kid A and the harmony of Radiohead: https://osjazz.link/radioheadYou've never heard Kid A like THIS. Jazz musicians Adam Maness and Peter Martin break down Radiohea...

27 Apr 1h 27min

Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' – Miles Davis Quintet

Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' – Miles Davis Quintet

Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and Steamin' capture Miles Davis on one of music history's most remarkable upswings. He had recently become clean after a years-long heroin addiction that led to his exclus...

20 Apr 1h 11min

I Want You – Marvin Gaye

I Want You – Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye's I Want You could be one of his greatest albums, and he didn't even write it. Producer Leon Ware wrote most of the songs for himself. Marvin Gaye was only supposed to record the title tra...

13 Apr 1h 5min

Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club: The album so good it's life-affirming. And it almost didn't happen.In 1996, an American musician landed in Cuba to record a music project with Malian musicians. But when they ...

6 Apr 59min

"Money Jungle" – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach

"Money Jungle" – Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach

What happens when you put three of jazz's biggest personalities in a studio for a day? You get Money Jungle: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Can it work? Miles Davis hated it. Others rev...

30 Mar 1h 12min

Best New Jazz Of March 2026

Best New Jazz Of March 2026

We're looking at the best jazz releases of March 2026! Listen with pianist Adam Maness as he breaks down and reacts to these great tracks.Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson ...

27 Mar 25min

"Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington" – Thelonious Monk

"Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington" – Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington: The musicians on this album were already legends when it came out in 1955. Each of them completely reinvented how people play their instruments. Drummer Kenny Cla...

23 Mar 1h 6min

"Brown Sugar" – D'Angelo

"Brown Sugar" – D'Angelo

D'Angelo's Brown Sugar sounded like nothing else in 1995. R&B was slick, polished, and built for clubs. D'Angelo later said the "deeper consciousness" had gone out of contemporary music. Questlove lat...

16 Mar 1h 35min

Populært innen Underholdning

papaya
harm-og-hegseth
enkel-servering
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
big-5-med-nils-og-harald-2
tusvik-tnne
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
konspirasjonspodden
tore-og-haralds-podkast
hovla
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
kjendiscrush-med-sofie-karlstad
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
nare-venner
vitnemal
gi-meg-alle-detaljene
rss-gammal-maiden
feedback-med-egon-holstad
christine-dancke
rss-backstage-historier-om-legender