Denny Dias (born December 1946 in Philadelphia) is an American guitarist, most known for being a founding member of Steely Dan. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Steely Dan is a American rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
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Career
Dias was working with his own band out of his basement in Hicksville, Long Island when he placed an ad in "The Village Voice" that read: "Looking for keyboardist and bassist. Must have jazz chops! Assholes need not apply". It was in this way that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met Dias. Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948 in Passaic New Jersey) is an American Musician and Songwriter. Walter Becker (born Walter Carl Becker, 20 February 1950, in Queens, New York) is an American musician and record producer They joined his band and immediately began playing their own material. Amazed at the talent Becker and Fagen had, Dias fired the rest of the band, and the three of them moved to California, adding drummer Jim Hodder, guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and vocalist David Palmer before recording for ABC/Dunhill Records as Steely Dan. Jim Hodder ( December 17, 1947 – June 5, 1990) was an American Drummer, best known as the original drummer for Steely Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948 in Washington D David Palmer is an American vocalist and Songwriter, most noted for his lead vocals on the Steely Dan song "Dirty Work" and as lyricist Dias recorded as a permanent member of the band on 1972's Can't Buy a Thrill (with a noteworthy electric sitar solo in the song "Do It Again"), 1973's Countdown to Ecstasy, and 1974's Pretzel Logic. Can't Buy a Thrill is the first Album by Steely Dan. Originally released in 1972 (see 1972 in music) the album was a huge success Countdown to Ecstasy was the second album by rock group Steely Dan in July 1973. Pretzel Logic is the third Steely Dan Album, originally released in 1974 Following a tour promoting Pretzel Logic, Becker and Fagen decided to break the band up and use session musicians on future albums. Session musicians are musicians available for hire as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical outfit or who have acquired fame in their own right Dias was included as a session guitarist on 1975's Katy Lied - playing a solo on "Your Gold Teeth II" - as well as 1976's The Royal Scam, and 1977's Aja. Katy Lied is the fourth album by Steely Dan, released in 1975 The Royal Scam is an album by Jazz rock group Steely Dan, originally released in 1976 Aja (pronounced) is an album by the rock band Steely Dan. The album was named after the Korean wife of group co-founder Donald Fagen 's friend's brother However, he would not appear on the band's 1980 release Gaucho, the final release by Steely Dan before a 20-year hiatus. Gaucho ( gaúcho in Portuguese, "gaucho" in Spanish) is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American Pampas In 1991 he joined Toto on their Summer Festival Tour. Toto was a Grammy Award winning American rock band founded in 1977 by some of the most popular and experienced Session musicians of He also recorded with Wayne Shorter, Wilfrido Vargas, and Pete Christlieb. Wayne Shorter (born August 25 1933) is an American Jazz Composer and Saxophonist, commonly regarded as one of the Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez (born April 24 1949) was born in Altamira Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Vargas began his musical studies early Pete Christlieb (b February 16, 1945) is a Jazz Bebop, West Coast jazz and Hard bop Tenor saxophonist born
Dias is now a computer programmer living in Los Angeles. Along with Rich McConnell and Basil Hosmer he has been an architect of Nantucket's Clipper 5.x xBase compiler. Clipper is a computer Programming language that is used to create software programs that originally operated primarily under DOS.
Discography
CD
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- Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan (1972)
- Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan (1973)
- Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan (1974)
- Katy Lied - Steely Dan (1975)
- The Royal Scam - Steely Dan (1976)
- Aja - Steely Dan (1977)
- Tribute to Jeff Porcaro - David Garfield (1997)
- Hoy - Wilfrido Vargas (1997)
- Round the Gum Tree: The British Bubblegum Explosion! - Various Artists (2004)
- Apogee [Bonus Tracks] - Pete Christlieb (2004)
- Footprints: The Life and Music of Wayne Shorter - Wayne Shorter (2004)
Video
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- Classic Albums - Steely Dan: Aja (2000)