Steely Dan Reels In the Years

In returning Steely Dan to the pop music world after a two-decade intermission, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have transformed the group from a shrouded enigma into a fan-friendly, interactive entity--relatively speaking, anyway. And they’ve done it without losing much of their subversive edge.

All these threads are gathered into a PBS concert that airs tonight on KCET. The “In the Spotlight” special is part of a campaign that would do a glad-handing presidential candidate proud, and it’s a gesture that would have been unthinkable during Becker and Fagen’s earlier incarnation as reclusive curmudgeons.

The pair may be more cuddly now, but they’re still a little creepy, thank goodness. They deliver characteristically droll zingers during the show’s interview clips, and in one segment they gleefully calculate the percentage of former Steely Dan sidemen who might be mad at them for one reason or another.

It’s mostly music, though--a predictably unpredictable 14-song set that avoids most of Steely Dan’s ‘70s hits in favor of lower-profile gems such as “Bad Sneakers,” “Babylon Sisters” and “Kid Charlemagne.” Material for the new “Two Against Nature” album blends in seamlessly.

Director Earle Sebastian stages a great-looking show, with fluid camera work that pretty much ignores the audience in the New York studio and instead roams among the musicians with a probing intimacy. With its constantly shifting angles and looks, the show’s visual aspect is always kinetic.

That matches the music, which adheres to the exacting Steely Dan standards. If there’s any development, it’s that Fagen has become a better singer, his roughed-up timbre helping capture the plaintiveness at the heart of the music. And his increasingly assertive, professor-hipster persona gives an image to this once-imageless enterprise.

* “Steely Dan: In the Spotlight” can be seen at 10 tonight on KCET-TV.