Saun & Starr - Look Closer

2015 – Daptone Records

By Phillip Smith; May 9, 2015

If you’ve listened to the music of Sharon Jones, you most likely have heard Saun & Starr.  Last year, I was fortunate enough to catch Jones in concert, and remember being bowled over by the exquisite harmonies of backing vocalists, Saundra Williams and Starr Duncan- Lowe , aka Saun & Starr.   They made quite the impression then, and they make a tremendous impression now with their stellar performances on their debut album, Look Closer. To top it all off, the Dap-Kings perform on this new record, drizzling their familiar funky soul on every song, in the Daptone style, and I love it. 

Title track, “Look Closer (Can’t You See the Signs?) ushers the listener in with an up-beat dance-friendly rhythm guided by a buttery bassline served up by Bosco Mann. When I hear the bouncy beats and soulful vocals on “Hot Shot”, I’m immediately taken back to the early music of the Jackson 5.  I just love the way this song was written and performed.  Whereas “Another Love Like Mine”, with is restless funk and echo-laced guitar effects, seems to draw in a little more inspiration from the late great Isaac Hayes.    

Every time I hear the infectious grooves of “Big Wheel”, I can’t help but get a big ol’ smile on my face.  Like Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff”, this track takes a soulful approach to calling out tricksters and scoundrels in wolves clothing.  Another fun little track, “Dear Mr. Teddy”, happens to take awkward situations to a new level. This is the kind of song that sounds best on a rainy day.  Saun & Starr close the album out with a light-hearted ditty about communication breakdown, “Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah”. I like the cool little jabs Victor Axelrod lays down on the organ and the Steve Cropper-flavored guitar riffs from Binky Griptite.  This is such a smooth song.

Look Closer is a sheer delight.  It’s the best soul album I've heard this year.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Give the People What They Want

Daptone Records, 2013

By Phillip Smith; March 15, 2014

Give the People What They Want, by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings is my favorite album of the year so far.  Produced by Dap-King bassist, Bosco Mann, the album is an outstanding collection of energy-infused rhythm and blues music with soulful vocals backed by a tight rhythm section.  It’s very reminiscent of the music of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, and Motown in its heyday.  Music like this seemed to fade away in the late Seventies.  As the times changed, the musical tastes and trends changed as well, leaving a huge gaping hole in the music industry.  Thank goodness we have Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to fill that void.  

Two of my favorite tracks are written by Mann.  The first being ”Retreat!”, is lush and vibrant, with a cool bass line and a catchy rhythm.  Jones’ vocals here are amazing and full of conviction. Second, there is “Stranger to My Happiness”.  I love the saxophone riffs laid down by Cochemea Gastelum and Neal Sugarman. They make the song what it is.

Another go-to song, “Now I see”, written by Dap-King drummer Homer Steinweiss, is really one of the most interesting songs I’ve heard in a while.  Kicking off with a trumpet intro and a steady tempo, the song periodically switches gears, shifting the mood to a feeling of pending doom, as Jones sings about dealing with a longtime friend turned enemy.  It’s fun the way these little snippets segue from a gloomy and foreboding gear into an up-tempo, ska-like beat.

Back to back songs, “Making Up and Breaking Up” and “Get Up, Get Out” seem to go hand in hand with each other, in theme as well as style.  Both seemingly inspired by Sixties girl groups like Martha and the Vandellas and the Marvelletes, pay a wonderful homage to the sound with harmonizing vocals provided by the Dapettes, Starr Duncan, Saundra Williams, and Sheron Lafaye.  These two songs sound so nice, and love their placement next to each other.

So, if the question still lingers as to whether Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Give the People What They Want or not, the answer is “Absolutely, mission accomplished!”.    They are a sheer delight to hear.