Primer: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

[July 1st, 2009]
LATEST RELEASE
2007’s 100 Days, 100 Nights is a smooth, rhythmic beast that takes the band’s incredible live show and raw energy and slows things down for a record that sounds like something Motown released in 1968.

WHY YOU CARE
Imagine digging through crates of old soul and funk 45s at Mississippi Records, picking out your five favorites, and throwing ’em all together in one greatest-hits package. Sharon Jones the Dap-Kings cover all the same bases as Amy Winehouse (the Dap-Kings are also her backing band), but Jones has a much more expansive voice and isn’t a tabloid-hogging coke fiend. Plus, the band’s cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” on Sharon Jones’ Naturally might be the best reimagining of the folk classic we’ve ever heard.

SOUNDS LIKE
The Roots band backing up vintage Etta James. The Dap-Kings totally rip live, all staccato guitar riffs and horns blasting, as Jones—one of pop’s most charismatic performers­­— steals the show.

FOR FANS OF
James Brown, Aretha Franklin, any classic Motown, the Roots’ live show.