Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Soul Of A Woman (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 35:35 minutes | 742 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Daptone Records
One year after she lost her fight against pancreatic cancer at the age of 60, Sharon Jones has sent down from heaven this posthumous record that she had the time to record before her death. Accompanied as usual by her explosive Dap Kings, this charismatic figure of soul, gospel and revivalist funk is as flamboyant as ever in her final disc. At no point do we get the sense of a soul sister running out of steam or nearing the end of her life. On the contrary! Her voice grips, caresses, whispers, roars, yowls and keeps coming back for more. The record is defined by a direct, raw, unadorned style. Soul and rhythm’n’blues from the heart – and the guts. No ornament or vain effects in this journey to the heart of groove, which brings together all the art of soul and old-school gospel. This vintage groove never feels dusty thanks to the skill of our mistress of ceremonies. In the up-tempo Motown songs, and in the more romantic ballads which are orchestrated like mini–melodramas, Sharon Jones is brilliant and touching. With this record, the singer who has had such a unique career, meeting success after the age of forty, leaves the stage as she lived: with class.
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Sharon Jones & The Dap-kings – Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In) (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 40:36 minutes | 831 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Daptone Records
The first time I saw Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, nearly 20 years ago at the legendary Frank’s Cocktail Lounge in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, I turned to my companion and said, “I get it — they’re a classic R&B cover band that plays originals.” While not completely inaccurate, my hot take was seriously short-sighted. In the years that followed, until Jones’ death from cancer in 2016, she and the band became one of the most formidable ensembles in the game, establishing a thriving studio and label, backing Amy Winehouse on her classic “Back to Black” album, opening for Prince on his 2011 arena tour, and most importantly releasing a series of albums that found them working vintage R&B into new yet familiar shapes.
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