Aja (song)
| "Aja" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Steely Dan from the album Aja | |
| Released | September 23, 1977 |
| Recorded | 1977, The Village Recorder, Los Angeles |
| Genre | Jazz rock, jazz fusion |
| Length | 7:56 |
| Label | ABC/MCA |
| Writer(s) | Donald Fagen and Walter Becker |
| Language | English |
| Producer(s) | Gary Katz |
"Aja" is a jazz rock song by the American rock band Steely Dan from the album of the same name, released in 1977. It was composed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the band's two members, who respectively play guitar and synthesizer on the track, with various studio musicians playing the other parts. Production duties were handled by Gary Katz; ABC Records released the album.
Musically, it is a tonally sophisticated and structurally complex work that was praised on its release as the most ambitious song the duo had ever attempted. The song's lyrics are the interior monologue of a man who "run[s] to" the title character to escape the stresses of his life "up on the hill." Fagen claims it was inspired by a relative of someone he knew, who had married a Korean woman named Aja. He has described the song as being about the "tranquility that can come of a quiet relationship with a beautiful woman."
Despite its complexity, and unlike most of the other tracks on the album, it took a very short time to record, which Becker and Fagen credit to the musicians' superior sight-reading skills. Denny Dias's guitar work, including a solo, marked the last appearance on a Steely Dan record by any other founding member of the group. Making their first appearance, on the other hand, were tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter and drummer Steve Gadd. Both play solos during the song's instrumental break that have contributed greatly to its reputation and been considered among their finest work; Gadd's, the first drum solo in a Steely Dan song, in the song's tag, was recorded in just two takes. Jazz critic Ben Sidran later called the "Aja" session "a moment when ... pop music suddenly took a turn left."
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