Naturally

Description

With an innate authority and remarkable elegance, Sharon Jones continues an astonishing journey that began with the wonderful Dap Dippin' three years ago, on the golden path of pure and authentic soul. Hailing from Augusta, Georgia, she sings with unabashed passion, having waited over three decades to reveal her talent, from the church pews to local dances, before her encounter with the purists of the now-defunct Desco, a New York label that has risen from the ashes under the name Daptone Records. "We should have stayed in an era where rhythm, harmony, and technology peaked in an Otis Redding ballad," the liner notes cheekily state. With a benevolent nostalgia, Sharon Jones, accompanied by the loyal Dap-Kings, as charming as the MGs or the J.B.s in their time, records an album that would have fit perfectly in 1971, alongside those of Marva Whitney, Doris Duke, or Betty Wright, and is just as relevant today, a slice of organic soul for uncertain times. The success of this anachronistic equation lies in the quality of the compositions, the perfect production, the old-school playing, and Jones's vintage singing. Alternating between ballads (All Over Again), funk bombs (My Man Is a Mean Man), and a stunning Technicolor reinterpretation of This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, this second album is a true gem. Aside from the miraculous surprise of Willie Walker, there is no better new soul album to be released in 2005, including those by Solomon Burke and Al Green.