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I’m a child of the ’70s, and thanks to Jazz Fest, I’m about to relive a piece of my youth.

Scanning the lineup, my eyes—and my breath—stopped cold when I read two words: Steely Dan. It’s one of my favorite bands of all time.

To me, they’re more than a band. They’re an enigma.

I never saw Steely Dan videos, and the band didn’t make TV appearances, they just made records. And I bought them, first on vinyl, then on CD, and now as downloads from iTunes.

For me, Steely Dan really only exists in a romantic world in my mind, 30 years of mental images set to irresistible song. Their songs are catalogued like so many friends, and I’ve heard some so many times that I know by heart every syncopated piano chord, every funky guitar riff, every tricky drum fill.

In 1977, my older brother bought a copy of the album Aja, one of a half dozen albums Steely Dan released during their 1970s heyday. And thus began my lifelong love of their music, not to mention a longer journey toward jazz.

The album featured Steely Dan’s signature alchemy of jazz, blues and rock, all polished into crisp and sophisticated pop music. Songs like “Peg,” “Josie” and “Home At Last” still lift my spirits today, just as they did when I was 17.

Back then we simply didn’t know much about the bands we loved, other than the abstract album covers of the day. I remember being stunned to find out Steely Dan was not so much a band as it was a couple of guys, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker; all the others are top-flight studio musicians.

Their lyrics confounded me to the point of surrender, and often I loved songs merely for their infectious and catchy melodies and hooks. Only as an adult did I start to appreciate the depth and nuance of their lyrics, how they spun stories about flawed characters, and painted unique pictures of American culture.

Like many other listeners, I made the transition from Steely Dan’s jazzy pop to jazz itself, although only after a brief and regrettable layover with Spyro Gyra.

I’ve seen some unforgettable bands during my years of Jazz Festing: Jimmy Smith, Eddie Palmieri, Poncho Sanchez; hometown favorites Astral Project and Walter “Wolfman” Washington; and my late brother Tim’s band, Smilin’ Myron, marked the high point.

The thought of seeing Steely Dan is tantalizing, despite the fact that my wife calls it “that elevator music.”

Elevator music?

Yeah, that’d have to be the coolest elevator in the world.