World's Fair

In case you didn’t hear, the one and only Sharon Jones and her Dap-Kings graced the stage of Late Night with Conan O’Brien yesterday, performing a very emotional, very tight rendition of “Let Them Knock,” off 100 Days, 100 Nights.

The Music Slut has posted the performance. Sharon and Conan make quite a pair…check it out!

Ms. Jones has been going strong for the past couple months now (last Saturday she put on a killer performance as part of the Roots Picnic in Philly — see pics here and here), and she’s showing no signs of letting up, playing Bonnaroo this upcoming Saturday, June 14, and continuing on to Aspen, LA, Chicago, and New York, the latter as part of the Central Park SummerStage series with the whole Daptone gang in tow.

Speaking of Daptone, the label hasn’t been doing too shabby a job of keeping itself in the music spotlight. Their 7″ Singles Collection, Vol. 2 was just released last week (June 3), Naomi Shelton’s “What Have You Done?” was just featured as NPR’s Song of the Day, and the Sugarman 3 are playing Wednesday, June 18 alongside none other than Rich Medina as part of Stuyvesant Town’s Music on the Oval series (show starts at 6pm). No excuse not to see at least someone from the family this summer. And, unlike your Aunt Ida’s potato salad, you won’t regret it later.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Tour Dates:

Jun 14 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
Jun 21 - Aspen, CO @ Rio Grande Park (Jazz Aspen Festival)
Jul 20 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl (w/Feist)
Jul 25 - Portland, OR @ The Portland Zoo
Jul 27 - Seattle, WA @ The Seattle Zoo
Aug 2 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Aug 3 - Montreal, QUE @ Oshega Music and Arts Festival
Aug 9 - Baltimore, MD @ V Festival
Aug 16 - Westhampton, NY @ Westhampton Performing Arts Center
Aug 17 - New York, NY@ Central Park Summerstage (Daptone Revue)
Aug 21-22 - St Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair
Aug 24 - San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate State Park (Outside Lands Music and Arts Fest)

Artist: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Album: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: October 2nd, 2007
Formats: CD, vinyl, mp3

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Still propelled by the energy from an explosive 2007, funk revitalizers Daptone Records are treating their fans to a digital-only compilation of some of their most treasured 45s. Out June 3, Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 is comprised of 13 tracks from some of the label’s finest artists, including Lee Fields and Sugarman 3, the now-defunct Mighty Imperials, Charles Bradley, and of course the incomparable Sharon Jones, alongside her band the Dap-Kings, who are now practically a household name.

Never before released by Daptone on either CD or LP, the collection offers the exclusiveness of vinyl with the convenience of digital formatting, perfect for barbeques or humid July nights, for road trips or back-porch gatherings. So start the summer out right, with plenty of funk. And hey, there’s no arguing that burgers taste better with an acclaimed horn section behind them.

Though Jones’s cover of Kenny Rogers’s “I Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Condition Was In” — by now a staple of her live show — is a definite standout, the singer’s emotive voice transporting the song from its psychedelic roots to something based in the organic grit and toil of soul and R&B, music enthusiasts of all types will find inspiration in the fast-paced funk of Charles Bradley’s “Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” the wah-wah-driven groove of Lee Fields’s “Stand Up,” and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra’s take on the Willie Colón salsa standard “Che Che Colé.”

Check out the Charles Bradley & The Bullets track “Now That I’m Gone” [DOWNLOAD]

Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 is a necessary piece in the ever-growing discography of one of the most exciting young labels of the new millennium; but more than that, it’s great music, music that shouldn’t be held back by format or player, music that needs to — and now can — be heard by everyone.

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No one can ever accuse Sharon Jones of being inconsistent or unreliable. Time and time again her energy, talent, and personality have been lauded by critics and fans alike, and her powerful performance at this year’s Coachella only helped solidify claims that she does in fact, “inspire.” (Thanks to the Wired blog for the great photo!)

Because during their Friday night set, Sharon and her Dap-Kings let nobody down, putting on a rock-solid, energetic, and very, very soulful show that had one EW critic calling it “among the best I’ve seen in my life,” and leading USA Today to assert that she was “this year’s successor to Amy Winehouse” (though we all already know that Amy’s happily admitted inspiration from Ms. Jones herself).

These kind words, however, are just a few of the many praises Sharon received at Coachella: Stereogum, Pitchfork, the L.A. Times, Tegan Quin from Tegan and Sara, and Variety, among many others, all had great things to say about her, as well.

Check out a short clip of the set. (Courtesy of Buzznet.)

In more exciting news, take a look at the brand new video for “Tell Me,” which premiered on AOL Spinner today!

In case you haven’t seen what everyone’s been raving about, or you haven’t gotten enough, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings will continue to wow the nation throughout the summer, including at stops at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and the Central Park Summerstage.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings 2008 Summer Tour Dates

May 31 Hunter Mt., NY @ Mountain Jam Fest

Jun 4 Austin, TX @ Stubbs
Jun 6 Bridgeview, IL @ Toyota Park (opening for Dave Matthews Band)
Jun 7 Philadelphia, PA @ Roots Picnic
Jun 14 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
Jun 21 Aspen, CO @ Rio Grande Park (Jazz Aspen Festival)

Jul 20 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl (w/Feist)
Jul 25 Portland, OR @ Portland Zoo

Aug 2 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Aug 3 Montreal, QUE @ Oshega Music and Arts Festival
Aug 9 Baltimore, MD @ V Festival
Aug 17 New York, NY@ Central Park Summerstage (Daptone Revue)
Aug 21-22 St Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair
Aug 24 San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate State Park (Outside Lands Music and Arts Fest)

Sep 5 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre (opening for DMB)
Sep 6 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre (opening for DMB)
Sep 7 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre (opening for DMB)
Sep 27 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits

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The Queen of Funk indeed!

Artist: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Album: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: October 2nd, 2007
Formats: CD, vinyl, mp3

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In case you missed Monday night’s stellar performance on the Late Show w/ David Letterman on CBS, by the miracle of the Internet, Brooklyn Vegan has a treat well worth your broadband!

Plus pics from last Friday’s Valentine’s / Homecoming Beacon Theatre gig c/o Brooklyn Vegan

More photos c/o Music Slut

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First of all, congratulations of the highest order go out to Daptone Records co-founder and Dap-Kings band leader Gabriel Roth (pictured below), credited as engineer/mixer alongside Mark Ronson on Amy Winehouse’s Grammy Award-winning “Rehab” album, also on which The Dap-Kings played their hearts & souls out! As we say, “Bushwick Platinum”!

Also keeping it soulful, is one Mr. Michael Glitz over @ Huffington Post. He figured the Grammy’s is the better occasion to announce one’s Best-of-the-year-before list. So he writes…

THE BEST CDS OF 2007 - THE EXTENDED LIST… 1. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days 100 Nights (classic soul)/ Various Artists - The Great Debaters Soundtrack (juke joint music) - Sharon Jones is the beginning and the end, an old school singer who sounds like she came straight from the Stax studios through a time tunnel and into the present. I’ve struggled all year to define the difference between “retro” music that just sort of apes the past and the real deal. But you can’t define it. You just feel it. … run right out and pick this up. Now. And Saturday night, put on 100 Days 100 Nights and The Great Debaters back to back and you’ve got yourself a party. [READ MORE]

Now, we know you ain’t had enough of Sharon live yet, listen up!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Live @ KEXP/NPR [LISTEN]

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings announce tour dates for Australia, New Zealand & UK!

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Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings add Bonnaroo (on top of Coachella!) to festival touring!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Live @ World Cafe / NPR [LISTEN]

Plus enjoy new live videos from Dap-Kings’ gigs across the pond @ DapTube…

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“It’s so refreshing to hear music like “100 Days, 100 Nights” (Daptone). I don’t think of music in terms of retro; that word has always been strange to me. If someone likes to make music with real instruments and record it in a pure way it’s called retro, but to me it’s just music…” - Lenny Kravitz @ NY Times [READ MORE]

Lenny shells out the love for the Budos beat too!

“… The Budos Band II (Daptone) sounds like Afrobeat. It sounds like Fela Kuti meets a blaxploitation soundtrack. When I listen to the opening track, “Chicago Falcon,” I see the streets of Harlem in 1971 in beautiful grainy muted color…” - Lenny Kravitz @ NY Times [READ MORE]

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings are still on tour America!

In case you missed…

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Live Performance & Interview @ AOL Spinner - The Interface [WATCH]

The Budos Band - Live Performance & Interview @ AOL Spinner - The Interface [WATCH]

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We’re sure you have a few dozen reasons to hit up Coachella this year (Aesop Rock perhaps?)… well, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings shall be gracing that stage as well on the Friday!

In the meantime, Sharon is kickin’ up a storm back on the road…

“… their concert Thursday at the Black Cat was long sold out, with scalped tickets selling at stunning multiples of their $15 face value… As it turned out, seeing wasn’t believing. Sharon Jones simply needed to be heard…” - Washington Post [READ MORE]

“Winehouse, shminehouse. When the Dap Kings, the ace house band of Brooklyn’s agreeably retro Daptone soul label, showed up at the Black Cat Friday Thursday night, they brought their real soul singer, Sharon Jones…. For her encore, Jones gave us a nice duo of covers, James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” followed up with Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately?” Whatever the answer, she’s done plenty for us.” - DCist [READ MORE]

Sharon Jones - Interview @ Jezebel/Gawker [WATCH]

Get your tickets now before they sell out!
Jan 24 New Orleans LA @ House of Blues
Jan 25 Houston TX @ Walters
Jan 26 Austin TX @ Antone’s SOLD OUT
Jan 27 Dallas TX @ Granada Theatre
Jan 29 Lawrence KS @ Granada Theatre
Jan 30 St Louis MO @ Duck Room SOLD OUT
Jan 31 Cincinnati OH @ Bogarts
Feb 1 Louisville KY @ Headliners
Feb 2 Nashville TN @ Mercy Lounge
Feb 15 New York NY @ Beacon Theater (Budos Band supports)
Apr 25 Indio CA @ Coachella

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Oh New York it’s always time to get down get down to the sounds that surround when Budos get down! Feel the fierceness from their recent Hiro gig:

And those massive Scion A/V remixes is still out & about…

Artist: The Budos Band
Album: The Budos Band II
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: August 7th, 2007 - Out Now!
Formats: CD, vinyl, mp3