About the Band
Strictly Dan are a 12 piece band of musicians with serious jazz, rock and blues musical backgrounds, all drawn by a love of the fun and wickedness of Steely Dan's lyrics and the enjoyment and challenge of playing their brilliant and much loved Grammy-award-winning music.
We are all huge Steely Dan fans. Come and enjoy an evening of their best songs drawn from their unrivalled back catalogue for a great night of Steely Dan music played with Strictly Dan commitment, energy and enthusiasm!

Singer Tommy's musical influences go back to his upbringing in Derry. Irish radio had always had a close relationship with American music and that opened up a whole new world of bands and artists that weren’t always mainstream in the UK. Aged around 15 years, he was drawn to the cool, sophisticated lyrics and sounds of Steely Dan. Like most teenagers, he wanted a band that was exclusively ‘his discovery’ and that was Steely Dan. As he says, "I never envisaged being part of a tribute band but I absolutely love it. Like the rest of the band, I find Steely Dan's music challenging and rewarding in equal measure and just when you think you’ve found all their best work, you suddenly find another hidden gem in the back catalogue!"

Victoria has a love of soul and show music with the great voice and personality to go with both, but she caught the Steely Dan bug over 5 years ago when she gave herself the Very Best of Steely Dan for Christmas and has been singing their songs with us ever since. Never happier than when singing her heart out, every gig is an occasion when she is on stage with us. A solo singer in her own right, whether she sings lead or harmony vocals with us she is always at the front and centre of Strictly Dan.

Rio is one of those singers who just makes a band sound better! Extremely musical, she is able to find her part perfectly in any Steely Dan song, despite their often complex harmonies. She rediscovered her love of Steely Dan when she started singing with us last year and now prides herself on being able to sing harmony vocals on any Steely Dan song we can throw at her.

Steve is a multi-talented musician and arranger, and a master of both musical and ensemble dynamics. He is the eminence grise of the group and its calm centre. His lovely, deft jazz guitar playing adds immeasurably to capturing those light and clever touches in Steely Dan's music that take it a mile away from ordinary rock and pop into complex jazz chord inversions and unexpected progressions which make the songs so rewarding to listen carefully to.

Rob was still at school when a friend walked in with Steely Dan's The Royal Scam album and told him to listen to Kid Charlemagne, as he'd never heard guitar playing like it before. "I rushed home. I couldn't believe my ears: it was a new sound to me. The production, the musicians, everything sounded so good. I was hooked on Steely Dan." Rob was a key instigator in forming Strictly Dan as he'd always wanted to get the chance to play the brilliant Larry Carlton, Skunk Baxter, Denny Dias and other guitar solos he'd been listening to and loving since the 70s. Now he gets to play them all the time and is quite simply the happiest member of the band.

Alan played guitar in his first two bands in the sixties, then added keyboard, sax, flute and vocals in Rogue Herring, reaching the finals of the Melody Maker Folk/Rock contest at the “Marquee" club in London. Following their much lamented demise, he has been adding vocals and Norman Watt-Roy bass in a range of blues, soul and rock bands until he discovered the inimitable Walter Becker/Chuck Rainey bass lines of Steely Dan, since when he has been well and truly hooked on playing with us in Strictly Dan.

Philip's musical background is classical by training and he is often found playing the piano or singing chorales or period music in a small Farnham-based choir of 16. But, like all of us in Strictly Dan his real musical life has been lived through gigs and concerts, folk and rock festivals, embracing everything from Planxty to Fascinating Aida to Ian Dury. He has been playing drums in bands for years and Steely Dan for a decade, so he fitted right into the mix that is Strictly Dan.

Paul has a lifetime of professional trumpet playing experience across all genres, handed on to him by his father, who was himself a professional trumpet player. Although jazz may be his musical home, his love of the jazz/rock music of Steely Dan provides him with the perfect opportunity for his stylish playing and skills, experience and talent for improvisation.

Joe is a modern improvisational jazz composer, player and band leader who plays regularly in London jazz venues. And in his spare time he is Musical Director for Band Without Boundaries, widening musical access to those who have overcome challenges to play their music. But once he'd let slip that he loves Steely Dan we found out that he is also the most talented sax player we have ever heard at recreating those great original tenor solos on Steely Dan’s albums, as well as at adding his own improvising to their later, more jazz-centric albums.

Jane is a freelance sax and woodwind performer and she teaches saxophone, clarinet and flute. After studying at The London College of Music and The Royal Academy of Music she has played in the West End and The National Theatre in Cats , Cabaret, Crazy for You, Carmen Jones, 42nd street and Guys and Dolls. Her orchestral performances include CBSO and RPCO, but her highlight (until Strictly Dan, of course) has been playing with The Lightning Seeds and The Pogues.

Hugh, like so many, first came across Steely Dan's music with Can't Buy A Thrill in the early 70s. Although already playing piano back then it was only later when playing vintage keys and synths that he started to try to reproduce the keyboard parts brought by Donald Fagen to Steely Dan’s music over the years. "It's great that it's now possible with stage pianos to capture many of the multiple Steely Dan keyboard sounds that Donald Fagen brought to Steely Dan's songs. It's part of the challenge and fun to try to recreate as closely as possible the jazz/rock sounds of Steely Dan."