I Blog What I Hear

Let me just come right out and say it, if you want to see a real band, go see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.  Yes, theoretically all bands are real bands, but thats kind of like when the Cheez-Its box says “Now With More Real Cheese Flavor!”  Lets examine some things that may get in the way.  Traditionally, there was the manufactured pop band.  This, I do not find so offensive, no one is really being tricked here.  There will always be bands of young people created by old white men for the purpose of making money.  The Monkey’s never played their own instruments, hundreds of bubblegum bands of that era were just there for the appearance, studio players actually recorded the albums.  Jimmy Page notoriously played several solos on Kinks albums (this was even confirmed by Page in the It Might Get Loud film)  But still, these parts are all being played by real musicians on real instruments.  Somewhere in there, someone has some talent, and has possibly even practiced their instrument.  One paradoxical example of this…is that The Dap Kings are the band on Amy Winehouse’s record, and without them, there is no way that album would have been as successful.

In recent years though, this has changed dramatically in a most bizarre way.  The Auto Tune phenomenon and various other studio trickery have changed the game for the worse.  I’m tempted not to say “for good”  because who knows, there could be a backlash, I’m certainly hoping for one.  I can’t even really get into this here, it will just upset me too much, and I’m not ready to let my day go to hell like that.  Lets just briefly say that Pro Tools, the most widely used recording platform, now advertises that each track now comes with “Elastic Time”.  What Elastic Time does, is time correct actual audio to a preset grid.  What this means, is that a player such as a drummer no longer needs to play in time, the most detailed of samples can be moved around to give the auditory appearance of playing in time.  This one just hurts.  Pitch correction, sure, we all knew that was coming.  But time correction on audio?  Come on!  Is there no motivation for someone to actually learn an instrument anymore? Well, seeing a band like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings I feel could change that.

This group has been around for a while, surrounded by some strange mythology.  From what I understand, bass player Gabriel Roth created Daptone Records, and released several “Reissue” 45 vinyl albums, which were not reissues of old soul recordings at all, but certainly sounded like it.  He believed in recording the old fashioned way, using no computers or trickery of any kind, all real musicians playing real notes.  Everything is recorded on an 8 track reel to reel tape machine, using minimal miking and overdubs.  What comes through is the real thing.  In many cases, these recordings are indistinguishable from the albums they are imitating, both in sound quality and musicianship.  I have heard nothing but stellar reviews of this band, so my expectations were quite high, which is always a dangerous thing.  Last week, my friend Jeff had invited me to check them out at “Southern NJ’s Finest Weird Mid Size Venue”- The Starland Ballroom…how could I pass that up?  So on the shittiest of Saturday nights, we braved the slushy rain/snow/wind combo, and headed south.

The Starland is an odd little place.  Its literally in the middle of nowhere, in Sayerville NJ.  I believe it was some type of dance club until the early 2000’s, when it seemed to take over for the old Birch Hill, as the Pop Punk/ Washed Up 80’s Band venue of NJ.  My old Ska band played there on the “Ska Is Dead” tour, which from what I remember was a great show.  The night before The Dap Kings, none other than Insane Clown Posse occupied the venue, and there were advertisements for Sebastian Bach as well.  But randomly, I saw Wilco there a few years back, and also The Black Crowes, so you really never know whats going to happen.

We arrived after the opening band to a medium filled house, which was kind of nice.  The crowd seemed laid back, no irritating hipsters to speak of, I would say the majority were 25 and older.  The Dap Kings took the stage in traditional Soul Revue style, the band coming out before the vocalist and doing a few instrumental tunes.  Everyone was clad in suits and ties, minimalist coordinated dance moves, great sounds from the instruments.  The guitar player acted as “Hype Man”  giving quite a rap at the beginning of the show, somewhat put on, but still interesting.  It felt as though the band was a little bit bored, not so much tearing it up, but I’m going to assume this is their style as a backup band- leaving all the glory for the front person.

Sharon Jones, gettin funky with some kid from the audience

Thats where Sharon Jones comes in.  There are no adequate words to describe this woman.  Shes fucking crazy.  She is 100% The Real Deal.  Her voice was flawless, and had enough soul to make Casper The Friendly Ghost come back to life and do the moonwalk.  Her stage presence was like a firecracker, she did not stop moving the entire night, dancing like a madwoman, simply lighting up the stage.  The real question is, where the hell was she for the majority of her life, and why is she not hailed worldwide as the 2nd coming of James Brown?  I heard an interview on NPR saying she was a Rikers Island Prison Guard for several years, and while this could be some made up story, she seemed pretty convincing, discussing the everyday details of the job.  She looks maybe in her late 40’s-early 50’s, and as you may have guessed from the previous sentences, is one of the greatest performers I have ever seen.  My other question is, how does she remain a “large” woman?  Seriously man, shes moving non stop, she must burn hundreds of calories every show, I just don’t get it.

Anyway, In addition to the stage presence of Jones, the backing band is just plain fantastic.  I would say, hands down, it was the greatest horn section I have ever seen.  The lines were so tight and so clear, it honestly reminded me of my favorite James Brown records.  The Baritone sax was perfect, punctuating bass lines with a little bit of growl.  The Trumpet was hitting high notes with ease, it was some Dizzy Gillespie shit.  The Tenor sax played some Maceo style solos, it was all there.   One of the most puzzling parts of the entire evening was their drummer, Homer Steinweiss (who also maintains a food blog)  On record his grooves are serious and straight ahead, though live, his performance seemed somewhat underwhelming.  Also, as Jeff pointed out, he was playing the bass drum with his left foot, using a double pedal, but the drum was in its normal position on the right.  How to explain this?  I have no idea.  There was technically nothing wrong with his playing, the feel was still there, it just didn’t really make me want to say “Hell Yea!”.  The bass playing was superb, the lines moved around, but never once got in the way.  Same thing for the guitars ( of which there were 2)  Their lines intertwined perfectly, they kept their solos minimal.   Overall, this is truly a band who knows how to support a front person.  Not one note was out of place, and nothing distracted from the vocal (though even if they tried, I very much doubt they could overshadow Jones.  Metallica could be up there and she would still stand out)

One Hilarious moment was when Jones brought up a young man from the audience, and danced, shall we say,  “All Up Ons”  It was quite entertaining.  But overall, the show was great.  This is a band like none other out there today.  It reassured me that serious music is still being made by serious musicians.  I don’t think one guitar effect was used all night, not even distortion.  Get out there and check it out, then go listen to The Jonas Brothers.  Tell me which one you prefer afterward.