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Wednesday December 5th, 2001
Steely Dan wins Les Paul Award
Grammy Award-winners Steely Dan, aka Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, were awarded the Les Paul Award last weekend at the 17th annual Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards, held in New York City. Sponsored annually by Gibson and the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio, the Les Paul Award was created in 1991 to honor individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology.
Les, jazz guitar hero Larry Carlton and Gibson Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz presented the award to the progressive pop hitmakers. The name Les Paul has become synonymous with not only the electric guitar, but multi-track recording -- which has propelled the careers of everyone from the Beatles to 'N Sync -- literally began in Les's workshop. Les was honored this year with the 2001 Technical Grammy. Technical Grammy awards are special merit Grammys that are awarded, by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees, to individuals and/or companies who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
Les Paul, Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
and Larry CarltonMix Foundation President Hillel Resener has characterized Les Paul as the Ben Franklin of the music industry. Read more here about Les Paul's technical contributions.
Steely Dan songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have been widely celebrated for a career spanning more than three decades. Their distinctive sound is a fusion of jazz, traditional pop, blues and R&B. When the band stopped touring in the mid-seventies, they focused their talents primarily on studio recording. Their resulting 1977 album Aja became one of the group's first albums to go platinum. The past year has been a landmark one for Steely Dan, bringing them the Album of the Year Grammy award for their 2000 release,
Les Paul autographs Becker's award Two Against Nature, in addition to three other Grammys for the same album. Earlier this year, Becker and Fagen were endowed with honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the esteemed Berklee College of Music. The 17th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards were held Saturday, December 1, 2001, at the Mariott Marquis in New York City.
Photos © 2001 steelydan.com
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