Sharon Jones anyone?
Just contributed to the "Favourite Albums of 2007" entry and as one of my top five was the latest from Sharon Jones, I thought I'd post more generally about one of the great voices recording today.
She seems to be a bit of a secret amongst everyone but the lucky few - the last album (released in October) was truly exceptional. It's hard to describe without making out it's simply recreating a 60s/early 70s Stax sound but that is undoubtedly its heritage.
Some of the earlier material was a bit mixed but "100 Days, 100 Nights" is arguably her greatest achievement to date. The songs take more distinct and well-crafted forms than the previous CDs, enabling a deeper more soulful return to traditional rhythm and blues roots in a sympathetic 21st century setting. Not bad for a woman well into her 50s - but then an old fart like me would have to say age is no barrier when it comes to good music.
If you're a fan, let me know by commenting on this post - if you're not, give her a try. I figure anyone who visits this site will appreciate the quality of the latest release.
I too have the "100 Days" album. Got into it after learning about her through her links with Amy Winehouse
It's an excellent release but it is criminally short. It would even be on the light side for good old vinyl :-)
I'm not a big fan of the 75 minute CD (unless it's a Best Of I guess) but 30 odd minutes is taking the proverbial a bit, as it's not even mid priced. But the music's fantastic, would recommend it to anyone
You may be interested to know Sharon is doing a few dates in England later in the year - including MANCHESTER, BRISTOL, BRIGHTON AND LONDON - see her website for details
Hi All
Don't want to rub anyone's nose in it but as a member of Emusic I've just noticed that Sharon's albums are available on the site for download. So, although I should have noticed this a lot earlier I now feel slightly smug that I'll be able to download "100 Days" and the previous album for free :-) (OK, a pay a subscription but I pay that anyway)
I'm no apologist for Emusic (it has its fair share of detractors) but for those who love R&B;, you might like to know that I've pulled off albums by Larry Garner, Gatemouth Brown, Mighty Sam McClain, James and Lucky Peterson, Joe Louis Walker, Solomon Burke, Phillip Walker, Peter Green, Jerry Butler, Tab Benoit, Ray Charles and many many more over the past year. Sometimes the download bitrate can be a bit low but even so, you might want to consider it