Menahan
Street Band, the Daptone group whose debut
full-length, Make the Road by Walking,
has been getting accolades from everyone
from The Fader toMother Jones (not to
mention from Jay-Z, who sampled the title
track for “Roc Boys”), will
be hitting the road in late October for
four special performances. The band, whose
two shows so far have both been jam-packed,
hip-shaking, town-talking affairs, will
be opening for the one-and-only Sharon
Jones & the Dap-Kings for their dates
in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and Ithaca.
The Menahan Street Band is a collaboration
of musicians from Sharon Jones & the
Dap-Kings, El Michels Affair, Antibalas
and the Budos Band brought together by
musician/producer Thomas Brenneck (Sharon
Jones & the Dap-Kings, Budos Band,
Amy Winehouse) to record hits in the bedroom
of his Menahan St. apartment in Bushwick,
Brooklyn. With influences reaching beyond
the funk/soul/afrobeat architecture of
their other projects into the more ethereal
realms of Curtis Mayfield and Mulatu Astatke,
the Menahan Street Band creates a unique
new instrumental soul sound that is as
raw as it is lush.
Make the Road by Walking came out last
Tuesday on Daptone/Dunham records to rave
reviews: XLR8R called it simply “a
must-have,” while Paste said “it’s
seamless and beautifully effective,”
Mother Jones proclaimed it to be “the
perfect after-midnight record,”
and soul aficionado Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides
has repeatedly declared his love for the
band. So far only New York crowds have
been lucky enough to watch the afro-soul-Ethiojazz-funk
quintet in action, an eventVariety describes
as “a low-slung, summer-night groove
redolent of classic sides by Herbie Mann
and Jimmy Smith – but with an ever-shifting
backbeat that ramped up the body -moving
aspect noticeably.” With more and
more shows on the way, Menahan Street
Band are sure to make new fans –
and a lot of them – very soon. |
|
Sharon
Jones
& The Dap-Kings
with
special guest:
Menahan Street Band
Sat., Nov. 1, 2008
7:30PM
| Meet
Sharon before the show at 5PM - at Volume
Records on the Commons! |
| TICKET
PRICES: |
Reserved
Seating:
In Advance: $22.50
Day of Show: $25.00
|
 |
Denied
a record deal for years because she didn't
have the right look ("too heavy, too
dark, too short"), Sharon Jones worked
as a Riker's Island prison guard, an armored
truck guard for Wells Fargo, and countless
other day jobs. Now at 52 years old, Jones
is being heralded as the new "Queen of
Soul." Taking a cue from her idol, James
Brown, with whom she shares a hometown, Jones
is unabashedly funky, old-school, and full
of soul. Jones lives in the projects in Queens
with her mother when she's not on the road
with her band, The Dap-Kings. The Dap-Kings
are best known for recording as the backing
band on Amy Winehouse's hit record "Back
to Black." Though that's about all that
Jones and the troubled diva have in common,
Jones told the Houston Chronicle, "if
it hadn't been for Amy, you wouldn't be interviewing
me. But I don't take no backseat to no one.
Amy said I inspired her. That's a good thing."
So let her inspire you! Join us at the State
Theatre on Saturday, November 1 for a night
of vintage soul and retro funk. Sharon Jones
and the Dap-Kings are on the verge of mega-stardom,
wouldn't you like to say that you saw her
back when?
EW's "Festie Awards":
BEST SHOWMANSHIP
Sharon Jones, at Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza,
and Austin City Limits
The first time I saw the funky soul phenomenon
was at Coachella in May, where I wrote that
her show ''ranks among the best I've seen
in my life. Actually, I could almost be convinced
that her set is that good, every single time.''
By ACL in September, I needed no further convincing.
When she kicks off her heels to dance through
her ancestry, it's school, church, and sex
all rolled into one.
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