Dap-Kings rising to top

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Does the start of 2008 mean "out with the old, in with new?" Not for a 51-year-old singer and the band she fronts, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

For three albums and around a dozen years together in various configurations, this musical family has favored big, brassy grooves over boom-bap beats; lyrics about bein' cool or in love over more time-sensitive material; vocals with raw emotion straight from the gut over those pumped up in the studio; and analog over digital recording techniques. The result: a batch of funk and soul jams that sound like something Stax Records forgot to release several decades ago.

Old-school stuff? This is "real music," Miss Jones says. And for her and the eight musicians who back her up, playing it is finally starting to pay off.

In 2007 alone, Miss Jones toured with Lou Reed's "Berlin," stepped onstage for a few songs with Booker T. and the MG's, sang at Harvey Weinstein's wedding and made her cinematic debut in Denzel Washington's "The Great Debaters." Meanwhile, her male counterparts stayed busy touring with Amy Winehouse after featuring prominently on the British star's acclaimed "Back to Black" album.

While managing an influx of other collaboration requests, Miss Jones and crew also found time to put out their third album, "100 Days, 100 Nights," which enjoyed a sold-out release party at Harlem's Apollo Theater as well as some year-end top-10-list attention.

Miss Jones, who lives in Far Rockaway, N.Y., says that all of the band's 2007 achievements didn't really sink in until just before the new year: Sunday, Dec. 30 to be exact.

"I was in the house with my mom," the singer says. "Her friend had called to say, 'Your daughter made it big; she's in the [New York] Daily News.' So I got dressed, ran and got the Sunday paper, and there I was ... Isn't this something for the new year to start out really great?"

Despite praise-filled press and newfound popularity, life isn't perfect for the recently crowned soul star. More than 20 of her friends and family members died last year; her mother had a stroke; and the singer is trying hard to save enough money to buy a home and a car of her own. "I'm still struggling, honey," she says.

Struggle is certainly a fact of life that everyone, whether famous or anonymous, must face — but it's also the price one pays for pursuing a dream. For the megawatt-voiced Miss Jones, this was the only choice.

Born in James Brown's hometown of Augusta, Ga., she knew she wanted to be a singer from an early age. She joined the church choir, performed in talent shows, played in bands, did session work (much of it uncredited) and even gigged as a wedding singer — anything to stay tethered to her lofty goals.

She held tight to her dream and never let go — even when she was told she didn't have the looks to make it as a star. Even when she was forced to take "day jobs" that were less than desirable (including a stint as a corrections officer at New York's Rikers Island prison).

"If it's a gift and you have it and you know you're good at what you're doing, don't let anyone deter you — not even your own family," Miss Jones says. "Everybody says, 'Mother knows best,' but sometimes you just have to say, 'Look, this is me. This is my gift,' and keep with it. You keep it in your heart."

The future Miss Jones had always hoped for finally began to materialize in 1996, when she got called into Desco Records, a small independent label specializing in old-school funk and soul.

They were initially interested in using her as a back-up singer for another artist, yet the session was the beginning of her own breakout. It was then that she started a fruitful working relationship with label co-owner and producer Gabriel "Bosco Mann" Roth.

Desco later released several singles under Miss Jones' name and helped land the singer on international stages, fronting the label's house band, the Soul Providers.

When the imprint later dissolved, Mr. Roth and Miss Jones regrouped and formed the Dap-Kings and began releasing albums on Daptone Records, a new label Mr. Roth co-founded with saxophonist Neal Sugarman.

It's taken a lot of shows, songs and shimmying for Miss Jones and her Dap-Kings to get to where they are now, but the singer says she's thankful they took the slower, independent route.

"It was meant to be this way," she says. "Now, we're really coming up and no major label has us; no one's trying to change me, to change our sound. I don't want us to be like everyone else out there."

Miss Jones and the Dap-Kings perform Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Black Cat (www.blackcatdc.com). The show is sold out.