Review: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights

From note one of 100 Days, 100 Nights you know exactly what Sharon Jones is all about. This isn’t one of those records that requires some time to digest, and it certainly isn’t a concept album. No, this is an album about one thing and one thing only: Soul. This also isn’t about some kind of late 60s R&B revivalist movement. Jones and The Dap-Kings make their music as though Memphis Soul never went out of style in the first place. More accurately, this album literally sounds like it was made in 1969 at the Stax studios.

The songs themselves serve as such perfect examples of how to write Soul music, you’d almost believe Sharon Jones wrote the book on the subject. Every aspect of the genre is covered here. Songs like “Keep On Looking” and the title track have that fast shuffle-like groove that makes even the stiffest of people want to get up and dance. “Be Easy” on the other hand sits in a steadier groove that cruises rather than drives. The Dap-Kings are certainly in no hurry to get anywhere. “Humble Me” slows it down even further to give a bluesy performance that gives Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” a good run for its money. The real prize of this record comes at the end of the album, however with “Answer Me,” an epic Gospel number that features Jones on the piano.

Honestly the greatest thing I can say about this album is that had I heard more of it last year, it would’ve made my top 25 in place of Amy Winehouse. Winehouse's music may be steeped in Soul history, but Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings actually make it.