Ms. Dakota Staton

 Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hytam/335626698/

 
Dakota Staton         
        

A soulful jazz singer with a unique style and husky tone.....a longtime fav of mine :)
        

In the late 1950s Staton's popularity ranked as high as that of contemporaries Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington Dakota Staton was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied music at Pittsburgh's Filion School of Music. She was soon chosen to be a vocalist with the Joe Wespray Orchestra, then the top band in the Pittsburgh area. After spending two years with Wespray she traveled to Detroit, working in various clubs there. Staton then followed the nightclub circuit which led her to Canada, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cleveland, and eventually New York.

It was while singing in a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand that Capitol Records producer Dave Cavanaugh discovered Staton and signed her to the label. After several singles Staton attracted the attention of Down Beat magazine, winning the magazine's high profile "Most Promising New Comer Award" in 1955. In the late 1950s she rose rapidly in popularity due to some fine swinging vocals on her first full length Capitol Records LP as backed by Jonah Jones on trumpet in 1957. The title track of this release turned out to be her biggest all time hit; The Late, Late Show. It was during this session that Staton also recorded her superb vocal rendering of what had previously been an instrumental hit for Count Basie called Broadway.

Following on the heels of The Late, Late Show was a superb outing with the George Shearing Quintet called "In The Night," also recorded in 1957. Her next date called "Dynamic," recorded the following year, further helped launch her meteoric rise to near the top of the female mainstream jazz vocalist category. With tunes on this release like Anything Goes and Too Close For Comfort, recorded with Harry Sweets Edison and a rhythm section, it seemed as if Staton would soon be in the category of a select few like Fitzgerald, Vaughan, and Washington. In 1959 several more great vocals as backed by the Sid Feller Orchestra were recorded and appeared on the release "More Than The Most." Unfortunately, even though she recorded steadily on Capitol Records through the spring of 1962, nothing achieved as much acclaim as her first few releases.

Later in her career Staton's styling showed more of a heavier, blues and gospel influence. From 1962 to 1992 she recorded for a variety of labels including United Artists, Verve, Columbia, Groove Merchant and Muse.


Dakota Staton passed away on Tuesday April 10, 2007, at the Isabella Nursing Home, in New York City. She had been in declining health for several years.

From:   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/obituaries/13staton.html

New York Times Obit

Dakota Staton, 76, Jazz Singer With a Sharp, Bluesy Sound, Dies
By MARGALIT FOX
Published: April 13, 2007

Dakota Staton, a highly respected jazz and blues singer known from the 1950s on for her bright, trumpetlike sound and tough, sassy style, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 76 and had lived in New York for many years.

Sharynn Harper, a spokeswoman for Ms. Staton’s family, confirmed the death, citing no specific cause. She said Ms. Staton had been in declining health in recent years.

In 1957, Ms. Staton (pronounced STAY-ton) burst on the scene with her first full-length album, “The Late, Late Show,” released by Capitol Records. The album was a hit, and the title track became her most famous number. Her other well-known songs include “Broadway” and “My Funny Valentine,” from the same album, and “What Do You Know About Love?,” which she recorded earlier as a single for Capitol.

Ms. Staton, who recorded more than two dozen albums, was widely praised by critics and worked with many distinguished musicians, among them the pianist George Shearing and the arrangers Nelson Riddle and Sid Feller. But she never attained the fame of singers like Dinah Washington, whom she cited as a deep influence. This may have been partly because Ms. Staton was born a hair too late; by the time she began recording albums, rock ’n’ roll was shouldering aside her brand of bluesy jazz.

She continued performing well into her 60s, however. Writing in The New York Times in 1998, Robert Sherman called Ms. Staton “one of America’s great vocal stylists.”

Dakota Staton was born in Pittsburgh on June 3, 1930, and began singing and dancing as a child. By the time she was 18, she was singing in nightclubs in Detroit and other Midwestern cities; she later settled in New York. In 1955, Down Beat magazine voted her the most promising newcomer of the year.

In the late 1950s, Ms. Staton married Talib Dawud, a trumpeter; the marriage ended in divorce. (Ms. Staton, who converted to Islam after her marriage, used the name Aliyah Rabia for a time.) Her brother, Fred Staton, a saxophonist who lives in New York City, is her only immediate survivor.

Among Ms. Staton’s other albums are “Dynamic!” (Capitol, 1958); “Dakota at Storyville” (Capitol, 1961); “Isn’t This a Lovely Day” (Muse, 1992); and “Live at Milestones” (Caffe Jazz), released last month.

I did some cherry picking with this one, today...I stuck to mostly her earlier stuff, and from that, pretty much just fave cuts of mine. I hate to say it, but occasionally her vocals, though great, can strike me as a tad overwrought on certain songs. (I'm sure many would disagree with my feelings, but I'm being honest about how I shaped this list).

I also wish to say that there are some things missing from this list that are out of print, and I don't own....especially some of her stuff with George Shearing that I used to have, but cannot locate right now.

Now for a few tunes, mostly from the earlier part of her career:

A foggy day
A little you
Angel eyes
Anything goes
Avalon
Baby don't you cry
Body and soul
But not for me
Can't live without him anymore
Country Man (a later recording than most of the rest on here, but bluesy and fun)
Crazy he calls me
Dedicated to you
Don't explain
East of the sun
Girl talk (again, a bit later, but a great version)
Gone with the wind
Heartbreak
How did he look
How does it feel
How high the moon
I hear music
I never dreamt
Idaho
If I should lose you
Invitation
Let me know
Let me off Uptown
Love walked in
The best thing for you
The late late show

http://www.4shared.com/file/62M061Px/dakota_staton_1.html



A losing battle (later recording....a good blues, though..)
Misty
My one and only love
No moon at all
On Green Dolphin Street
Say it ain't so Joe
September in the rain
Solitude
The party's over
The song is ended
The song is you
Thrill is gone (later, again....excellent version, though)
Too close for comfort
Until the real thing comes along
What do you know about love
When lights are low
Willow weep for me
You don't know what love is
You've changed

http://www.4shared.com/file/y2KoGuab/dakota_staton_2.html