a review of 沙龙·琼斯小姐

February: 17/28 This was absolutely the pick-me-up I needed after the last few films I watched this week. I was only passingly familiar with late Sharon Jones as a pop culture figure, based on listening to a few of her recordings with the Dap-Kings from the past 10-15 years but not really knowing anything about her biography. I wasn't necessarily prepared for how much of the documentary's running time was devoted to showing Jones' battle against cancer, and it's some emotionally-grueling stuff if you have someone close to you going through the same thing, and it adds a lot of emotional depth to what could have been just a straightforward artistic documentary. The knowledge that Jones would eventually lose her battle in November 2016 makes the ending all the more bittersweet. The music of course is incredible and the film absolutely succeeds at showing the multiple layers of Jones' collaboration with her bandmates, on the songwriting, performance, and studio recording levels. I've dipped a toe into the neo-soul/funk/R&B movement before, but never too deep, and watching Jones and the Dap-Kings work really inspires me to seek out and explore more. Highly recommended!