Robert Baird

There needs to be a new musical term coined: “Daptone-ized.” Is there anything Gabe Roth and his funky band of players, writers, arrangers cannot turn into snappy, retro but somehow still new, horn-peppered funk? The perfect vehicle for his talents has always been the great singer/shouter Sharon Jones who has been bravely waging a war on cancer these past three years. Jones typically goes all in here on a collection of charged Christmas classics like, her zooming take on “White Christmas” and a straight take of Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home For Christmas,” where she shows she can belt out a ballad with the best of `em. She also electrifies new tunes like the Daptones, “8 Days (Of Hanukkah).” Recorded to tape in 8 tracks at the Daptone studios in the new hipster vortex of Bushwick, these 11 tracks are also pressed into red vinyl. No one can raise those holiday spirits quite like Sharon Jones!