Well, even the absence of a U.S. visa couldn’t keep my favorite troubled chanteuse down. On Sunday night, Amy Winehouse won five of the six Grammy Awards she was nominated for, including Best New Artist.

Back in a black beehive, Winehouse performed via satellite from London. She seemed a bit tentative on stage, shyly telegraphing the irony of singing “You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab.” Later, when the latter won Record of the Year, a visibly overwhelmed Winehouse hugged her mom and dad tightly in disbelief. Even her thank-you to jailed hubby Blake Fielder-Civil, was weirdly touching (“My Blake, my Blake incarcerated”).

I really thought she had all six awards sewn up, but Herbie Hancock rockit-ed from nowhere to take home Album of the Year. Considering that honor has been bestowed upon such cutting-edge performers as Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, and Steely Dan in the last 15 years, perhaps this slight wasn’t much of a surprise. Regardless of what Natalie Cole had to say, Winehouse’s wins were well-deserved and I do hope she’s on the right road now.

So while Back To Black didn’t take home the major prize, Mark Ronson, who helmed half of that disc’s tracks, was named Producer of the Year (Non-Classical). Ronson was instrumental (literally) in helping Amy Winehouse craft the throwback sound she was after, bringing in the Brooklyn-based Dap-Kings. Though Winehouse has proven she’s got standout vocal and writing chops, some credit must be paid to the backing band who brought the funk.

Recording artists in their own right, the Dap-Kings are out with a new record, 100 Days, 100 Nights, featuring the righteous Sharon Jones on vocals. These boys (and girl) believe in analog, and the result sounds like a long-lost R&B relic. The packaging plays up the past, too.

Download the title track for free from Amazon’s MP3 store and enjoy a risk-free taste of their retro recipe.