Tune In Saturdays: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
For some reason, I just can't get enough funk and soul as of late. The only problem with that shift in taste is the lack of current stuff to actually get out and see live, until Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings rolled through Dallas last Sunday. Seriously cool stuff. Their albums are all recorded on 60's equipment to keep that authentic motown feel, but even their live shows retain that old school slant and strut. I've never seen so many white people dancing so horribly in one place before. Good stuff. The Dap Kings can also been seen hiding crack from Amy Winehouse as her backing band and as a recording partner for Mark Ronson.
From Pitchfork:
Among the biggest keys to the Dap-Kings' success is that Jones is a fantastic singer, a masterful soul vocalist in the best tradition of Etta James, Bettye Lavette, and Irma Thomas. She can wail when she needs to, has access to a gentle falsetto when the song requires it, and has impeccable control, with a full-throated tone that grabs your attention. Jones isn't a fresh-faced youngster imitating her heroes, either-- she was at it in the 70s, singing backup on funk and disco records while seeking her own big break, but moved to gospel in the 80s when her style fell out of favor. In between her early career and her revival in the mid-90s, she worked as a prison guard and also did armored vehicle security work, and she brings the same tough, no-nonsense approach those jobs require to her music.
The band, and lead composer Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann) in particular, has a firm understanding of the material they're channeling. This is not pastiche-- it's soul music that came along about thirty-five years late. The production is so spot-on it's like a time warp, and drummer Homer Steinweiss inhabits his decades-old beats so thoroughly he makes them feel fresh again. You get the sense of musicians in a room together, and the horns blend in the air of the studio before ever reaching the mixing board. This music is a throwback for sure, but it's so uncontrived that it doesn't come off like one.
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Tell Me (mp3)
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights (video)
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Live in Dallas (video)