Boz Scaggs Tour

State Fair Grandstand review: A rainy deja vu for Steely Dan

The first words out of Donald Fagen's mouth during Steely Dan's Tuesday night gig at the Minnesota State Fair: "Got a feeling I've been here before."

He was singing the 1973 album cut "Your Gold Teeth," but he also happened to be describing his waterlogged return trip to the Grandstand. Last summer, Fagen closed out the Great Minnesota Get-Together on a joint tour with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs on a cold, rainy night.

Tuesday, Fagen returned with his band, Steely Dan, to play a cold, rainy night in front of 7,882 poncho-wearing fans.

The show has not finished rain delay, as Fagen last trip, but the drizzle and cold winds made slow for an evening more popular with hardcore fans, not just out to eat beer and sing on "Peg."

Indeed, most of the first 100 minutes-or-if seen Fagen, his musical foil Walter Becker, a band Crackerjack, horn section and trio of backup singers for the most part goes beyond the hits. The group, less Fagen, opened with a revival of the old nugget of Duke Ellington "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo," a song from their first recorded for 1974 is "Pretzel Logic." It gave the audience a taste of what was to come, with expert musicianship and ample time for each player to indulge in a solo.

From there, the set list bounced from "Aja" to "Time Out of Mind" to "Black Cow."

They even dipped into their post-reunion albums to play "Lunch with Gina," a track from the band's most recent record, 2003's "Everything Must Go." For the most part, Fagen sat behind the piano, rarely addressing or acknowledging the audience. Becker mostly followed suit, often tucking himself behind drummer (and crowd favorite) Keith Carlock.

Early on, those hoping for familiar radio fodder had to make do with "Black Friday" and "Hey Nineteen." Midway through the latter, Becker stepped into the spotlight and launched into an extended, self-deprecating monologue that, among other things, saw him pondering: "The State Fair...

Boz Scaggs thrills Opera House crowd with backyard launch of new tour

Five years ago, blue-eyed soul singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs recorded a collection of standards, demonstrating he’s as comfortable on Tin Pan Alley as he is on Beale Street.

Now, the Napa Valley based recording artist has followed that up with a second volume, a dozen songs that range from great American songbook to a bossa nova treasure associated with Antonio Carlos Jobim.

After he spent the better part of last week at the Napa Valley Opera House rehearsing the new material and new arrangements of his own hits, Scaggs and company launched a coast to coast tour at the Main Street venue Tuesday night. It was also the official release date for the new Decca recording, “Speak Low.”

Although he earned his worldwide reputation blending soul and blues in both slick and funky configurations, Scaggs has found a new niche for his husky tenor/baritone voice — bringing back songs by greats like Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, Hoagy Carmichael and Duke Ellington — reinvigorating treasures like “I’ll Remember April” and “This Time the Dream’s On Me” with delightful new arrangements and signature smoky vocals.

As with the 2003 recording, “But Beautiful,” “Speak Low” is expected to shoot to the top of the jazz charts any minute now.

Ohio-born, Texas-raised Scaggs started out as a guitar-slinging lover of raw blues. His first musical success came as a member of the Flower Power-era Steve Miller Band. But he made his greatest impact as the San Francisco purveyor of slick and elegantly executed white rhythm and blues, reaching his commercial peak with the multi-platinum “Silk Degrees” album of 1976. That recording spawned the disco-era mega-hits “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle.”

Although he tours infrequently and concertizes even less, his appeal hasn’t waned, evidenced by the adoring SRO crowd that gave him a standing ovation Tuesday night before he’d even sung a note.

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