R.I.P. Naomi Shelton, 1942-2021

Remembering the amazing Naomi Shelton who recently passed away at the age of 78. She'll be greatly missed.  

Menahan Street Band preview new album with "Queens Highway" & "The Duke"

Both songs are off the forthcoming The Exciting Sounds of The Menahan Street Band out Feb 26th. Check the clips below.

Here's the scoop from Daptone HQ...

Menahan Street Band, a veritable supergroup of some of today's most prolific songwriters, arrangers, and producers return with this beat-forward, cinematic masterpiece. Their unique brand of instrumental soul has not only been the foundation for some of modern hip-hop's most successful beats, it has also become the perennial soundtrack and veritable vibe-generator for countless parties, art shows, and restaurants throughout NYC and abroad. While this album carries the aesthetic torch that MSB has skillfully woven into the tapestry of their DNA, it also delves deeper into the experimental, exotic sounds that fill many of the coveted Sound Library and Soundtrack LPs of the late sixties and early seventies - an amalgamation of moog synths, electric pianos, drum machines, and a bevy of analog instrumentation, that ebb and flow in lush swells of Morriconian grandeur.

 

Out February 26th. Pre-order options include:

• Standard LP & CD

• Vintage Green with off-white splatter colour vinyl LP

• "Midnight Morning" b/w "Stepping Through Shadow" 45 (colour & standard)

• "The Duke" b/w "Stepping Through Shadow" Daptone Shop EXCLUSIVE 45. Will not be available for sale anywhere else.

• MSB T-shirt

Pre-order The Exciting Sounds of The Menahan Street Band via Daptone Records right here. Check out "Queens Highway," "The Duke" and "Midnight Morning" below. 

 

Naomi Shelton shakes Harbourfront Saturday

Although Naomi Shelton, like many of her gospel singing contemporaries, grew up singing in church, the Albama-raised belter has also spent some time in New York's soul clubs. Her her late 90s sevens on the Desco label – namely 41st St. Breakdown and Wind Your Clock – were essentially the blueprint for Sharon Jones' recordings with the Dap-kings that would follow.

When Desco folded, the label's founders split up and started Soul Fire and Daptone. Shelton joined Gabriel Roth at Daptone who produced her next single, 2002's Promised Land and then eventually re-released Wind Your Clock b/w Talkin' About A Good Thing in 2009 to coincide with Shelton's long overdue debut album What Have You Done, My Brother? backed by the Gospel Queens.

Charles Bradley roars back with new single

In advance of Charles Bradley's long overdue debut album No Time For Dreaming (now scheduled for release January 25, 2011), Daptone's dependable Dunham subsidiary is putting out the motivational Joe Quarterman-penned title track as seven-inch single with the charging Farfisa-fired Golden Rule on the flip.

As with Bradley's previous Dunham scorcher The World (Is Going Up In Flames), both sides are produced by Dap-Kings guitarist Thomas "TNT" Brenneck featuring the instrumental support of his stone-solid Menahan Street Band with vocal enhancement provided by Daptone's own sweet singing Gospel Queens on loan from Naomi Shelton.
Before heading over to Daptone's online store to grab a copy for yourself, check out Mr. Bradley belting out No Time For Dreaming with the Menhan crew at Het Depot in Leuven, Belgium back in February. Some time-saving advice to diggers: Don't bother trying to track down Joe Quarterman's original recording of No Time For Dreaming – it was never issued.



No Time For Dreaming by Charles Bradley