Happy Birthday Donald Fagen: The Dukes Of September Featuring Michael McDonald

Legendary musician Donald Fagen was born in the New York City suburb of Passaic, New Jersey on this date in 1948. The now 70-year-old keyboardist went on to meet Walter Becker at Bard College in 1967 and the pair formed Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame act Steely Dan in 1970. Steely Dan put out seven exceptional albums between 1972 and 1980 before breaking up in 1981. Becker and Fagen reunited in 1993 and toured regularly through Walter’s death last September. Donald has kept the Steely Dan Band together and the group will tour North America with The Doobie Brothers this summer. Fagen also has participated in a number of other projects including supergroup The Dukes Of September.

The Dukes Of September are led by Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs, three icons of the Yacht Rock era. Fagen, who enlisted McDonald’s help for Steely Dan during a period in the ’70s, first teamed with Michael and Boz under “The Dukes Of September” moniker in 2010. Donald also recruited a handful of musicians from the Steely Dan Band to round out The Dukes Of September including guitarist Jon Herington, bassist Freddie Washington and a horn section of Jay Collins, Michael Leonhart and Walt Weiskopf.

After a successful inaugural tour in 2010, The Dukes Of September hit the road again in 2012. Fans have been awaiting a return ever since. In November of 2012, the band played Lincoln Center in New York City for a show that was originally broadcast on PBS in March 2014 and then was issued on DVD and Blu-Ray. Watch highlights from the concert film: