Keeping Up With Sharon Jones (article in Echo Mag.)

[Schwa.]

Keeping Up with Sharon Jones

By Vish Khanna

Anybody craving a dose of some genuine funk and soul will

definitely not want to miss NYC’s Sharon Jones and the Dap–Kings

when they roll through town. The flagship band on Brookyn’s

mini–Motown, Daptone records, Jones and company have released

one of the finest albums of the year with Naturally, a powerful

collection of vintage funk that you just don’t hear any more. The

Motown mention is no joke as label head Gabriel Roth and

songwriter Bosco Mann have landed artists like Jones with the aim

of accomplishing a musical mission; to recapture the golden age

of black music in America.

“The whole label is built upon that funk, that era, that

sound, and that’s Gabriel and he can tell you more about that,â€

Jones drawls. “All I can tell you is this: because of him and his

love of that era of music — James Brown and the JBs — he looked

for those kinds of singers. I met them when I was doing

background singing for Lee Fields and right then he said, ‘Hey,

this young lady’s got the voice I’ve been looking for.’ From there,

I’ve been with them ever since.â€

With a remarkably dynamic singer in Jones, Mann and Roth

have the star power they need to make Daptone an independent

force to be reckoned with and they’ve paid attention to all of the

details. It’s one thing to write funk and soul songs that emulate

that beloved 60s and 70s sound but Naturally does more; it

sounds like a long–lost treasure from a bygone era that has

recently been unearthed. The truth is, these songs are new and

were laid to tape for the first time at Roth’s s Daptone Studio in

Brooklyn within the last year.

“We don’t use any kind of digital machines,†Jones explains.

“We use the tape and we record like the way they used to record

so that everything’s done live. It’s all mono, no stereo or anything

like that; that’s the way you get it.â€

Indeed, Jones and the Dap–Kings get it every time on *Naturally.* There’s an infectious spirit to songs like “Natural Born

Lover,†“My Man is a Mean Man,†and “How Do I Let a Good Man

Down?†that listeners won’t want to shake. Ballads like “Stranded

In Your Love†and “You’re Gonna Get It†show off Jones’ amazing

breadth as a vocalist and the band lays down some amazing funk

grooves on songs like “How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?†and

an improbable take on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.â€

There is a grace and charm that comes across in these songs that

reveals a seasoned group of performers gelling together

magically.

It’s all the more amazing considering that, while close to

50–years–old, Jones only emerged as a front woman in the late

90s. “Well, when I was younger and coming up, people told me I

didn’t have ‘the look,’†she says. “They said I was too short, too

fat, and too young. Then when I got in my thirties they said I was

too old. That was then though because in the 70s and 80s, there

was some ‘look’ they was looking for and that’s why it took me

until I was 49 to get this far. I was good looking but I didn’t have

‘the look.’ When you’re dark–skinned, that wasn’t what they were

after in the 70s and 80s.â€

Though she has every right to be resentful, Jones harbours

no ill feelings at being bypassed in her youth for trends that she

didn’t relate to. “At the time it was a little depressing when you

know you got the voice and the talent and then someone tells

you, ‘either bleach your skin or change your look,’†she says. “It

was a little discouraging but I felt that God gave me this gift and

one day this gift would shine. This day happens to be the last

couple of years.â€

The more she’s heard by audiences, the more Jones’

extraordinary talent will be drawn out to serious fans of original

soul and funk music. While she counts James Brown, Aretha

Franklin, Otis Redding, Patti LaBelle, and a host of Motown artists as influences, Jones really comes across as someone fresh on the

scene, someone earnest who will make a difference in music as

long as she’s able to.

“If I go out on tour and can see the look on people’s faces

and they’re not enjoying it, I know it’s time to stop,†she says

matter–of–factly. “Right now though, people are just hearing it

and when I go out there, people are saying that they’ve finally

heard something that’s soothing to the mind. I think as long as I

can get that response, you’re gonna get good some music from

us. If that dies down, then I’ll die down.â€