Singer Sharon Jones, 59, is a soul survivor — literally. In 2013, while finishing up “Give the People What They Want,” the sixth studio album by the Dap-Kings — a nimble 11-piece soul/funk outfit known for incredible live shows and old-school production values — and filming a sequence for Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Jones learned she had pancreatic cancer.
Invasive surgeries and bouts of chemotherapy followed; career-wise, it meant album delays and tour cancellations, just as Jones’ star finally appeared to be rising. But she bounced back; when finally released in 2014, “Give the People” reached #22 on the Billboard 200 and was later nominated for a Best R&B Album Grammy. (The Dap-Kings lost to Babyface and Toni Braxton). Jones and company have spent several weeks touring with the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Doyle Bramhall II on the Wheels of Soul Summer Tour; all three acts will perform on Friday, July 31 at this year’s Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport.
After the Grammy nod, Jones, a former Riker’s Island corrections officer, felt vindicated — sort of: she’s grateful for the recognition, and even attended the ceremony (she found it boring). But with current R&B edging closer to what she’d call “pop,” Jones wonders why there’s no distinct soul category and so few winners who record for indie record labels.
“They called out Babyface and Toni Braxton, and I was like, ‘When did they do any music over the last year?'” Jones said. “I don’t want to start any trouble, but when did they put anything out? It’s like, someone from a major label had to win. Me and Aloe Blacc, or some other beginner who had never been up there… [Toni Braxton] has probably won Grammys. Some of these young kids are eight-time Grammy nominees. James Brown never got that many Grammys. It just amazes me.”
The pairing of the Dap-Kings with TTB — the closest thing these days to the sprawling, big-band-rock of the early 1970s (think: Joe Cocker’s 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour) — seems like a no-brainer, and something that should have happened years ago. But other than briefly sharing a movie set with Tedeschi (during the filming of “Queen City,” a 2013 indie film set in Buffalo), Jones only met Trucks and Tedeschi at the start of the Wheels of Soul tour. “For Susan and Derek to say that the reason why they chose us was because we are real, that we play real music, it was so amazing,” Jones said. “We fit like a glove… I look so forward to every night when we get up and do that encore.”
The Dap-Kings — perhaps all the bands on the Wheels of Soul tour — are often referred to as retro, a term Jones doesn’t like. Between the three acts, there’s some special calculus involved in figuring out how many musicians are currently on the payroll. If you like horns, multiple percussionists and background singers, it’s a welcome trend, one made possible in today’s shrink-wrapped economy, Jones said, only if each player is content to earn less money.
“A lot of people look at these young kids, and they see them making millions and millions of dollars and having these yachts and whatever,” Jones said. “We’re doing the same thing: why we ain’t got that kind of money? The money that we’re making: it’s enough to get us by. We’re doing what we have to do, and we’re living our lives, and we’re making our music. If we were with some big major label, you know what the pressure would be for you to stay up in that level, to sell all those millions, to do what they want and how they want to advertise?”
If bands like the Dap-Kings and the TTB received more radio-time, Jones said, or received more exposure in general, she’d would have met Trucks and Tedeschi sooner. She would have known how much the two bands had in common. Newer singers following in her wake would have a better shot at sustaining a career. “Back in the ’60s, they were playing everyone’s songs,” Jones said. “Now you have to pay somebody so many thousands of dollars to play your song on the station, to get it published, to get it promoted. That’s what’s holding back a lot of beginners and young people who are out here trying.” The Internet, Jones feels, is the Great Equalizer. “Some of the labels are realizing: we don’t need you, you know? We’ll start our own system, and look what we’re doing. We may be a little slow in the process, but people are hearing what we’re doing.”
Jones’ favorite performance at the Grammys — while she was still there — was Tony Bennett’s duet with Lady Gaga. (“It was great… a beautiful thing that they did.”) She recalls Paul McCartney performing, but not much else.
“It was just a bunch of pop-rappers coming out, so I just left,” Jones said. “The next time I’m nominated, if I do go to the Grammys, I would have to be performing. I’d just want to perform, do what we do, let people see some soul music. That’s all.”
SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS perform at the Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport’s Seaside Park on Friday, July 31, at 2:45 p.m. on the main stage. Festival information: gatheringofthevibes.com.
