I Learned The Hard Way

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are already well known as one of the most exciting acts in the nation for both their explosive live shows and their prolific output of gritty studio recordings. Their breakout release, 100 Days, 100 Nights, sold over 150,000 copies worldwide. This Spring the band will release I Learned the Hard Way, their fourth full-length on Brooklyn’s independent Daptone Records. The record marks a bold step forward for a band who almost single handedly stewarded today’s return of soul music to its more traditional sound.

Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, the record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its best. read more..

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Whether It's Come And Gone,It's Still A Great Fit by Andre S. Grindle
My argument with the retro soul movement has always been somewhat the same: is it really necessary for R&B,soul and funk to remain living in the past? Well sometimes you can't fight a feeling so it's not important if the music reminds you of "real instruments" or "something you grew up with". Some types of sounds just effect you in a place that's beyond nostalgiac sentimentality. And that's definately the case with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Apparently the now very much in limbo Amy Winehouse's backing band..well yes The Dap-Kings do rely very heavily on a very live and oriened sound and the in their case even the very sound of the PRODUCTION is retro,relying on at least the flavor of old sounding analog tape without any flattened digital quality. Lucky for us Sharon and the band are absolutely KICKING! Sharon herself has powerful,strong and soulful confidence that can at once be gentle and assured by a turn of note. She's focused very much on the nuances and tones of what she's singing as opposed to just loudly belting every note of a song because she can. I don't know anything about him but the bass player Bosco Mann is a KILLER! One important thing you'll notice about him especially on songs such as the title song,"Better Things","Give It Back" and the lyrically potent "Money (reminding us how much the state of the economy now echoes that of this music's past) is that aside from the fact these songs blend the distinct soul/funk styles of Philly,Chicago and Memphis into a new mixture of flavors that Bosco's playing serves as a potent reminder to contemporary listeners the potentcy of a higher toned bass line,an element of the music usually associated now with a low,often aggresive tone. Curtis Mayfield used to use this a lot and so does Bosco and it really makes many of these songs. The stories this music tells from the spicy,mildly comedic "lovers tale" of "Window Shopping",the experiences of one person in a scary situation in "She Ain't A Child No More" and the blues styled lyric of "Mama Don't Like My Man" are again important reminders of,even though these lyrics could have easily fit into any soul tune from the 60's and early 70's they're still a vital part of the contemporary ideoms. So again have times really changed?Or is it more that they've had such an appearance of changing that we forget how similar things remain? Well the fact that everything hear from music,lyrics to the feeling expressed around those itself sounds both familiar and contemporary should provide at least....reference to an answer to that question.