The past few years have been a time of transition for soul music specialists Daptone Records. Sharon Jones and Dan Klein (The Frightnrs) both died in 2016, followed by Charles Bradley in 2017; and label honcho Bosco Mann established a West Coast outpost with a new studio in Riverside, California. Daptone also began branching out from its soul and funk base, with releases in recent years including the Cuban big band Orquesta Akokán, reggae by The Frightnrs, and even garage rock-oriented subsidiary label Wick Records. During that time, a consistent source of the type of retro-leaning soul Daptone specializes in has come from veteran English guitarist and songwriter James Hunter.
Nick of Time, with the James Hunter Six, was released by Daptone in March, and it's yet another top-notch collection of tunes penned by Hunter. The band's third release for the label, Nick of Time may be my favorite of the trio. Working once again with producer Mann (aka Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth), Hunter introduces a new version of the Six made up of American players instead of his longtime road band, and augmented by Daptone regular Victor Axelrod on piano. Among the seven players, nobody is ever fighting for space; Nick of Time features spare but carefully detailed arrangements for these songs. The horn lines remain compact and concise, and even Hunter's lead guitar work is very sparingly deployed. That restraint really lets Hunter's words and expressive vocals shine through, whether going for grit (the title track) or super-smooth ("Paradise for One").
Even though there's more emphasis on rhythm, and no orchestra, the sound of Nick of Time makes me think of the early days of Burt Bacharach-Hal David productions for Dionne Warwick. But a more apt comparison is perhaps another early Bacharach-involved record, "Baby It's You" by The Shirelles, from the days when the hard-edged R&B of the 1950s was melding with pop into 1960s soul. That's an unjustly neglected era of vintage music, and a hard sound to capture, but the James Hunter Six nails it.
In the Daptone universe, Hunter is something of an anomaly. Rather than a new artist or the blossoming of a formerly neglected performer, Hunter was a well-known quantity when he joined the label, with a Grammy nomination for the 2006 album People Gonna Talk. Hopefully it's a collaboration that will continue, as so far it's been a remarkably consistent and rewarding one for listeners. (Daptone DAP-061, 2020).
