It’s no small coincidence that Sharon Jones was born in Augusta, Ga., the birthplace of the late James Brown. She was born just as Brown’s first King Records release, Please, Please, Please, was working its way up the charts, on its way to sell a million. Today she fronts Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the hardest working, hardest hitting funk and soul revue today. When Sharon and the band hit the stage, you never have a chance to mourn JB. You’re too busy shaking what your momma gave you to think of anything else.
You’ve heard Sharon and the band, even if you don’t think you have. Jones spent the last year or so (when not doing her own shows) backing Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, They Might Be Giants and many others. Denzel Washington handpicked her to co-star in his latest film, “The Great Debaters,” as well as lead the soundtrack to the film, performing impressive covers of songs from the 1930s alongside Alvin “Youngblood” Hart and the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
The Dap-Kings have been everywhere in the last year, a stunning feat considering all the session work they do. It is impossible to think of Amy Winehouse and her stellar Back To Black album without the Dap-Kings behind her. They also provided the backbone to much of Mark Ronson’s excellent record, Version. Word has it the Dap-King horns are on the new Al Green album due later this year.
Even hip-hop producers have gotten in on the action, too: Ghostface, Rhymefest, Just Blaze protégé Saigon and Jay-Z, whose Dap-sampling “Roc Boys” Rolling Stone called their “Best Song of 2007” (Ms. Jones and Mr. Ronson also rank on this list). Dap members also share duties in Antibalas, The Budos Band, The Sugarman Three and many more.
Last year saw the release of the band’s third full length, 100 Days, 100 Nights, which, like all their albums, came out on their own Daptone Records label. It features 10 new songs you will swear were unearthed from some long lost Memphis storefront studio.
Friday marks the band’s first appearance in Louisville, at Headliners. DJ Kim Sorise, whom locals know well from her weekly appearances at the Monkey Wrench and North End Café, opens, as does the Ivan Milev Band, a New York export that fuses Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian and Hungarian folk music.
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Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Ivan Milev Band
DJ Kim Sorise
Friday, Feb. 1
Headliners Music Hall
1386 Lexington Road
584-8088
$12; 9 p.m., 18+
