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Saturday, Nov 21, 2009
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Where It's At |
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| Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings set to boogie, Richard Hawley at his singing-songwriting peak | ||
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by Richard Kennedy
and Jessica Browning -
SGN A&E Writers SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS W/ DJ GREG VANDY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 8 PM NEUMOS - SOLD OUT When you take your first listen to a Sharon Jones album you expect to hear a crisp-sounding retro take on soul music. A lot of artists do it today, even incorporating crackle noises to make it sound authentic. Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings are the "real deal" though, and it's impossible to tell that you are listening to an actual modern recording. Horns, saxophones and percussion create genuine hardcore '60s funk and R&B, while Jones' vocals launch you right back in time to a musical revue that might have been headlined by Ike and Tina Turner! With their third album, 100 Days, 100 Nights, released on their independent label, they are now headliners themselves, with raw talent and superb showmanship bringing them more popularity year after year. With Jones and the band having extensive backgrounds as R&B musicians from the late '60s to the '90s, they were able to create a fantastic debut in 2002 actually based on an old school revue. It's hard to believe the ensemble even turns Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" into a powerhouse, deep funk jam. Their second outing, Naturally, garnered more acclaim with songs like "Natural Born Lover" where Jones actually belts "He's an NBL and he TCB," referencing the old southern soul acronym for "takin' care of business." They turned the patriotic classic "This Land is Your Land" into a drop-tempo blues number pulling more feeling from the lyrics than any traditional choir could ever create. With their latest release, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings have undoubtedly created their best album. The music is even more layered and the songwriting is more extensive, giving them a well-deserved Plug Independent Music Award nomination for Album of the Year. In addition, Jones is nominated for Female Artist of the Year. We can only hope this will carry over to the Grammys where they could possibly get an R&B nomination (in a perfect world it would, of course, be Album of the Year!). Aside from what will surely be one of the best live performances of 2007 at Neumos, Jones and the gang will also be doing an in-store performance at Silver Platters in Queen Anne on December 11 at 6 p.m. It's gonna be a packed house at Neumos, so get there early and have a drink at Moe Bar before the show. R. Kennedy Artist Essentials: 100 Days, 100 Nights is nothing less than perfection, but the two previous releases, Naturally and Dap Dippin' are pretty damn close! RICHARD HAWLEY W/ FERRABY LIONHEART MONDAY, DECEMBER 10 - 9 P.M. THE CROCODILE CAFÉ- $13 There's something incredibly suave and romantic about Richard Hawley. It never fails that when I put on any one of his records, I feel transported out of my surroundings and into a British film set in the 1950s or '60s. Which isn't to say his distinctive baritone and old-fashioned crooner style is retro exactly. Hawley is an absolute classic singer/songwriter/guitarist dropped amazingly right here in your lifetime; all you have to do is have the good sense to listen. Hawley and his band return to Seattle's Crocodile Café this week after a painfully long absence since their low-key appearance on the heels of Coles Corner. Although in America Hawley's modest success has been mostly word of mouth, in the UK Coles Corner was a commercial breakthrough and 2006 Mercury Prize nominee. Tragically, the Mercury Prize went to the Arctic Monkeys instead (although to his credit, Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys exclaimed "Richard Hawley's been robbed!" upon receiving their award). Hawley is a crooner alright, and he's a tough act to follow. Yet Lady's Bridge (2007) reveals some of his best and most ambitious work to date. Opener "Valentine" grabs you by the heart from the very first swell of the specially-arranged 16-piece orchestra, and things only get better from there. As foretold by his last tour - rife with Elvis covers and an amazing backing band - Lady's Bridge is the most rockabilly-tinged of his releases. "Serious" showcases some ferocious double bass, and "Tonight the Streets Are Ours" makes you feel like you are the star of an epic movie in which the world is wide open for conquering. The album has its dark side as well, yet somehow Hawley has a knack for writing about sadness and loss so delicately that a melancholy song is equal parts fragile and beautiful. Nobody does it better. Really. It's hard to imagine that Hawley's first foray into fame and relative fortune was as a founding member and guitarist in underrated Britpop band the Longpigs. Although they had their charm, Hawley's true talent was completely lost in a simple pop band. He was definitely meant to be center stage. He's affable and charming in concert; I've seen him stop and tell a story in such a way that feels more like a two-way conversation than a performance. Hawley's father, also a musician, played with blues greats such as Sonny Boy Williamson in the '60s, and perhaps that part of Hawley's genealogy just needed time, experience, and plenty of drink and hand-rolled cigarettes to reach its full potential. Whatever the case, his solo body of work is unbelievable. It's painfully good; and like anything great, it's a secret, for now. This is music to love and to cherish right alongside the best of the best. Artist essentials: Pick up any one of Richard Hawley's four proper full lengths, and you will not be disappointed. My personal favorites are "Valentine" from Lady's Bridge, 2003's Lowedges featuring "Oh My Love", and every track on the mini-album Richard Hawley. |
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