Sharon Jones hasn’t been with us for just under 7 months now. But the presence of her and the Dap Kings/Daptone Records scene of the 2000’s in general reminds me of the retro soul/funk movement of that time. It didn’t have neo soul’s obsession with all natural instrumentation or direct linkage to hip-hop. It emphasized a full band sound with horns and a hard touring ethic. Not to mention the powerful soul wail of singers such as Jones herself. Somehow I feel it even touched on Mark Ronson too when he co produced Amy Winehouse’s similarly themed album Back To Black in 2006.
Daptone Records itself is just an amazing phenomenon in itself. Its an independent funk/soul label that thrived in the immediate post 9/11 world. Its roster emphasized instrumental bands such as the Latin flavored Budos Band and Antibales,as well as other soul singers who’d had difficulty making it such as Charles Bradley. It was Henrique Hopkins who really gave me the knowledge of Sharon & The Dap Kings music just under a decade ago now. And I remember the song that he used to introduced me to their sound. It was called “100 Days,100 Nights”.
A minor chorded big band style horn chart opens the song before the percussion accented drum rhythm kicks into gear. This deals with a tightly locked bass/guitar lick-accented just after the more brittle horn charts which represent the refrain of the song. A Hammond organ also purrs along in the back round-often slipping out of the arrangement with a soulful wait-especially after the drum break that separate each refrain/choral pattern. On the bridge,the song slows down at Sharon’s request to a 6/8 beat. After a couple bars of this,another horn chart closes out the song as it fades.
“100 Days,100 Nights” is one of those songs that has it all. It has a powerful uptempo groove,heavy horns, rhythmic bass guitar and even a ballad part to it. And everything rooted in Sharon Jones gospel shouting and a melody deep in the center of the blues musical form. The Dap Kings showcase their amazing unity and instrumental vitality on this song. They know exactly how to be musically flamboyant and play for a powerful singer as well. That makes this song perhaps the definitive statement for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings for their consistently strong career.