DENNY DIAS, Founding Member of Iconic Pop/Rock Group STEELY DAN, Performs Four Shows at IRIDIUM This Week

Do you remember classic pop/rock songs of the 1970s such as "Do It Again," "My Old School," and "Reeling In the Years?" If those tunes are swirling around in your head it's because they were big hits of the period by the iconic pop/rock group Steely Dan. The founding member of that great band, guitarist extraordinaire Denny Dias, will take the stage at New York's popular jazz club IRIDIUM this week, August 6 and 7 for Denny Dias & Friends, a show that will celebrate the music of Steely Dan and showcase a few of his Denny's original songs. Joining Denny will be two special guests: Celebrated pianist/composer/music director Yaron Gershovsky and popular singer Lisa Jason as the show's lead vocalist. The Denny Dias & Friends Band also includes: New York-based singer/songwriter Christian Tookes on vocals, Andy Bergsten on bass, Justin Poindexter (from the Amigos Band) on guitar and vocal, Scott Adair on tenor sax, Rusty Smith on Trumpet, and Joe Cincotta (from the Grammy-nominated band Bellevue Cadillac) on drums.

Performances of Denny Dias & Friends will be at 8 pm and 10 pm each night. Tickets are $30 per show (with a $15 food and drink minimum) and can be purchased at theiridium.com/reservations or by calling 212-582-2121.

Denny 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." Soon Donald Fagen and Walter Becker joined Dias' band and the new group immediately began playing their own material. After Dias fired the rest of the band and he, Fagen, and Becker moved to California, where they adding drummer Jim Hodder, guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and vocalist David Palmer before recording for ABC/Dunhill Records as Steely Dan. Following a tour promoting the group's third album release, 1974s Pretzel Logic (which peaked at #8 on the US album charts), Becker and Fagen decided to break up the band and use session musicians on future albums. Dias was included as a session guitarist on 1975's Katy Lied, as well as on 1976's The Royal Scam, and 1977's Aja. However, Dias would not appear on the band's 1980 Gaucho, the group's final release before a 20-year hiatus. In 1991, Dias joined Toto on their Summer Festival Tour. He has also recorded with Wayne Shorter, Wilfrido Vargas and Pete Christlieb.

Among his many credits, Yaron Gershovsky is the Musical Director and Pianist for the world-renowned vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, touring, arranging, and recording with them for the past 30 years. Yaron has also recorded or performed with such great artists as Michael Tilson Thomas, Wayne Shorter, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Steve Gadd, Janis Siegel, Ray Brown, Grady Tate, Freddie Green, Don Sebesky, Richie Havens, Pharaoh Sanders, Stan Getz, Louie Belson, and the Count Basie Orchestra. He was the Vocal Arranger for the hit Broadway musicals City of Angels, Song of Singapore, and Swing. Yaron has also released his own solo CDs, Personal Notes and State Of Mind to much public acclaim.

Lisa Jason's singing has earned rave reviews from Provincetown to New York to the Caribbean. Her latest show, The Wish: The Art of Judy Garland recently played at the Provincetown Theater in Provincetown, MA, prior to a national tour. In July 2014, Lisa and Steely Dan founding member Denny Dias performed sold out shows at the Berklee School of Music in Boston (see video) and the Wequassett Jazz festival on Cape Cod.

For reservations, go to: http://metropolitanroom.com/event.cfm?id=199236

For more information on the Denny Dias show at Iridium, as well as on Lisa Jason, contact Stephen Hanks, Cabaret Life Productions, 718-753-1323.