There’s no stopping Steely Dan.

On what could have otherwise been a Monday night off in the midst of the band’s annual run of shows at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre, the jazz-rock legends crossed the Hudson for a barn-burning evening at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in on Monday.

The band's return to the Asbury Park Press Stage at the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre was a robust, revelatory affair, with Passaic-born co-founder, keyboard player and singer Donald Fagen leading the charge.

Sure, the youngest songs played were "Hey Nineteen" and "Time Out of Mind," a pair of numbers from 1980's "Gaucho." But it was easy to see that this was a changed incarnation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band.

One reason for that was sadly, readily apparent: Fagen's co-founder, Queens, New York-native guitarist Walter Becker, died in 2017 at the age of 67.

There also has been a subtle but distinct stylistic shift in the band's sound in recent years.

Previous live incarnations of the band consistently presented note- and tone-perfect re-creations of the Dan canon the way it's sounded on record for nearly half a century.

Under the musical direction of West Long Branch native guitarist Jon Herington, Steely Dan circa 2019 is just a hair shaggier, a little bit looser in all the right ways.

Keith Carlock's punchy, commanding drumming drives the material into bold territory; "Bodhisatva" had the propulsive energy of a runaway locomotive, "Kid Charlemagne" was downright explosive and "My Old School" oozed rock 'n' roll swagger.

Fagen, for his part, seemed comfortable and confident jamming through highlights from his back catalog with renewed vigor. The sprawling epic "Aja" had an exploratory air as Fagen switched from keyboard to melodica and back again, and there was a playful nature to his approach for pop hits like "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Hey Nineteen."

The portrait of Duke Ellington gracing the front of Fagen's keyboard also seems to have taken on an enhanced, poignant significance. After all, Ellington created such a body of work that even still, 45 years after his death, the orchestra bearing his name can be found on concert stages.

When the material is this good, and it's played this well, it can live forever.

Steely Dan's six-show residency concludes Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The band then plays five shows at Boston's Orpheum Theater in Boston, followed by Nov. 5 at Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and dates Nov. 6, 8 and 9 at the Met in Philadelphia. For a full list of tour dates, visit www.steelydan.com.

Setlist

Teenie's Blues Sign in Stranger Black Friday Hey Nineteen Aja Time Out of Mind Bad Sneakers Kid Charlemagne Rikki Don't Lose That Number Green Earrings Dirty Work Don't Take Me Alive Keep That Same Old Feeling Peg Bodhisattva My Old School

Encore