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Ailing Donald Fagen Cancels U.S. Gigs
Donald Fagen has canceled the final U.S. dates for his tour with his new solo band because of illness.
Today’s cancellations mean the whole West Coast leg has been nixed. Fagen and the Nightflyers were supposed to play Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Ore., tonight and Seattle’s The Paramount Sept. 13.
He had California gigs scheduled at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga on Sept. 15 and The Masonic Auditorium on Sept. 16.
– Donald Fagen & The Nightflyers
press photo for the band
No details about Fagen’s condition were given other than saying the dates were canceled “due to illness.”
The announcement about the Portland’s show notes that “ticket holders should watch their email for further details.” As for the rest of the dates, refunds are available at points of purchase. The Paramount notes that tickets purchased via credit card will be automatically refunded.
Fagen also canceled his Sept. 3 show at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, presumably because it was scheduled the same day his longtime partner in Steely Dan, Watler Becker, died.
The Nightflyers features Fagen joined by four 20-something musicians that he met near his home in Woodstock, N.Y., according to the Times Free Press.
“I got to know a lot of the musicians up here, and I think that I first saw these guys over at the annual Bob Dylan birthday concert. I remember seeing them do some Dylan material, and I was just really impressed with what a great band they were. So when I wanted to speak to them on a different kind of material, some solo material and so on, they were just there. And they’re really good,” Fagen told the publication.
The band, which is named after Fagen’s solo debut, 1982’s The Nightfly, features guitarist Connor Kennedy, drummer Lee Falco, bassist Brandon Morrison and keyboardist Will Bryant, according to Rolling Stone.
Fagen & The Nightflyers are still scheduled to appear at Blue Note Jazz Festival in Yokohama, Japan, Sept. 23-24.
As previously reported, Steely Dan has North American and European dates booked in October. As Fagen said in his tribute to Becker, “I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can.”
Becker sat out the band’s Classic East and Classic West sets in July because of illness. Fagen later told Billboard that Becker was “recovering from a procedure and hopefully he’ll be fine very soon.” No other details about Becker’s condition were revealed and a cause of death wasn’t announced.