Since we first met Tony Campbell, he’s been talking about reuniting a group he played with years ago that formed a Steely Dan cover band. We were immediately onboard. Saying that you have a Steely Dan cover band is a bit like saying you have a quantum physics cover band. Headed by the immensely talented Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, Steely Dan brought together some of the best session musicians of its time for its recordings. The result was perhaps more of a studio experiment than a traditional band: a revolving cast that experimented with cutting edge jazz, blues, r&b, and Latin music all atop a canvas of sophisticated recording techniques. And, lest this project be considered a self-important act of pretense, Steely Dan came with an overlay of ironic and at times self deprecating lyrics belted (nearly anonymously) by a set of some of the best singers of the 70s.

In short, NOBODY sets out to form a Steely Dan cover band. It’s too ambitious. It’s too out there. Hell, Steely Dan itself wouldn’t didn’t even want to be a Steely Dan cover band: they became a studio-only band and didn’t tour after 1974.

Well, almost nobody, that is, as the supremely talented jazz saxophonist (and our good friend) Tony Campbell is here to put together that live quantum-physics equivalent for two amazing hours on Sunday.