8 Days of Hanukkah by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

This is the first Hanukkah song of the season that we’ve come across, and I must say, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings have set the bar high for any others that will follow. I mean, even Heeb, cynical bastards that they usually are, verily gushed, I mean really gushed, about this track:

Ladies and gentlemen, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings have come through. Nes Gadol Haya Sham, right in the damn Daptone Records recording studios. Their holiday album kicks off with a truly fun, inspired, and original Hanukkah song. The rhythm section keeps it in the pocket, delivering a mid-tempo Motown dance beat. The bright horns bounce back and forth with the backbeat and the vocals, filling out the sound without knocking you over the heard with it. The package particularly is reminiscent of the Tyrone Davis classic “Can I Change My Mind?” More than anything else, Sharon makes me love Hanukkah again. For all my annual kvetching about how lame Hanukkah might be, I’m ready to light some candles and fry some latkes

What’s really ironic is that Heeb’s new love of Hanukkah was inspired by a track that is part of a holiday album – basically Christmas – written and performed by non-Jews. Super talented non-Jews mind you – Sharon Jones is a Grammy nominated American soul/funk singer and the lead singer of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, a soul and funk band based out of Brooklyn, New York. You can buy the 8 Days of Hanukkah, or the entire album, on iTunes. Or you can go to their Web site and buy an actual LP!

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