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Donald Fagen
“MORPH THE CAT”
RATING: 3 SOUND LEVELS
The Steely Dan vet returns after a 13-year break from solo albums. At his best on this disc out Tuesday, Fagen spins tales with a mix of literary craft and jazzman’s cool, animating his narratives with vivid language. The album’s letdown is the familiarity of the music, which moves to firmly established Steely Dan signatures–the snappy, swinging beats, funky filigrees, woven horns, playful guitars. You wish Fagen’s verbal ambition had been matched by an eagerness to push the musical envelope.
