There’s something so admirable and comforting (and a little envy-inducing) about someone who does things just right every time out. With pressures to conform and compromises to be accepted at every turn, it takes a singular stick-to-your-guns stance to get things done “your way.” Since 2001, Brooklyn’s finest funk purveyor, Daptone Records, has seen its unique vision grow into an influential and international success, without ever betraying its ideals.
The house of soul will release “Hey Brother (Do Unto Others)”/”Soul Fugue” as a standard black vinyl 45 and a Daptone logo die-cut picture disc (and digital single) as its 100th 45 rpm single on June 28. In celebration of this announcement, the label is sharing the record’s B-Side today, a horn-heavy mammoth by the star-studded supergroup, The 100 Knights Orchestra.
The Orchestra’s “Soul Fugue” features EVERY HORN PLAYER THE LABEL HAS EVER WORKED WITH. That means members of The Dap-Kings, Antibalas, The Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, The Extraordinaires, The Soul Providers, and The Daktaris. Recorded with all participants present on February 29, 2016, the track is a Fibonacci-themed instrumental written and arranged by Daptone ace Bosco Mann, with brass and woodwind players battling out the musical thought from the left and right speakers respectively.
The A-Side, credited to The Family Daptone, features the cream of Daptone’s vocal crop, including Saun & Starr, The Frightnrs, James Hunter, Naomi Shelton, Duke Amayo, Lee Fields, and the late Charles Bradley and Miss Sharon Jones. Originally found on The Frightnrs’ Nothing More to Say album, “Hey Brother (Do Unto Others)” was re-recorded after the tragic passing of Frightnrs frontman Dan Klein as an expression of togetherness and gratitude, a love letter to the label’s fans, and an ever-lasting tribute to those lost from the Daptone family.
The single is available ONLY at the Daptone web-shop. While you wait for that 7-inch to arrive, click an inch below to listen to the massive “Soul Fugue.” Then click replay.