Dakota Staton

Dakota Staton – A Grand Selection Of Her Beloved Songs (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 28, 2024 · Comments off

Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit “The Late, Late Show”. She was also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to Islam as interpreted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

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George Shearing and Dakota Staton – In The Night (1958/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · February 15, 2023 · Comments off

In the Night is a 1958 album by the jazz pianist George Shearing and the singer Dakota Staton. A quintet accompanies the pair. Staton sings on six tracks; the rest are instrumentals.

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Dakota Staton – Time To Swing (1959/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

Dakota is in her prime backed by the orchestra of Sid Feller (famed for his work with Ray Charles); you get her 1959 LP plus five bonus cuts, all new to CD: Avalon; Detour Ahead; Let Me Know; But Not for Me; Gone with the Wind , and more!

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Dakota Staton – The Early Years 1955-58 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

Described by influential critic Leonard Feather as “a dynamic song stylist recalling at times elements of Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan,” Dakota Staton never enjoyed the widespread acclaim or commercial success of her reference points, but she remains one of the most soulful and commanding jazz singers of the postwar era. Born outside of Pittsburgh on June 3, 1930, Staton began singing and dancing as a child, later attending the Filion School of Music. At 16, she starred in the stage show Fantastic Rhythm and two years later joined local bandleader Joe Wespray. From there, Staton headlined a lengthy residency at Detroit’s landmark Flame Show Bar, followed by years traveling the Midwest club circuit. Eventually she settled in New York City, and while performing at Harlem’s Baby Grand she captured the attention of Capitol Records producer Dave Cavanaugh, who extended a contract offer. Staton’s debut single, “What Do You Know About Love?,” appeared in 1954, and a year later she claimed jazz magazine DownBeat’s Most Promising Newcomer award. By no means strictly a jazz act, however, Staton was also a bold, brassy R&B singer and performed alongside Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino at legendary disc jockey Alan Freed’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll Party showcases. Freed regularly played Staton’s “My Heart’s Delight” on his daily WINS show, and when her long-awaited full-length debut, The Late, Late Show, finally hit retail in 1957, it proved an enormous crossover hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard pop charts. Its 1958 follow-up, The Dynamic Dakota Staton!, reached the number 22 spot and more importantly heralded the beginning of her long collaboration with arranger and conductor Sid Feller. After marrying trumpeter Talib Ahmad Dawud in 1958, Staton converted to Islam and for a time performed under the name Aliyah Rabia. She was also an active member of Dawud’s advocacy group the Muslim Brotherhood, which existed in large part to combat the radical politics of Black supremacist Elijah Muhammad. The Muslim Brotherhood found itself the center of controversy when Muhammad claimed, “they should be ashamed of trying to make fun of me and my followers while serving the devil in the theatrical world.” The resulting media attention undermined Staton’s commercial momentum, and while 1959’s Crazy He Calls Me still charted, she never again enjoyed the crossover success that greeted her previous records. After ten Capitol dates, culminating in 1961’s live Dakota at Storyville, she jumped to United Artists for 1963’s From Dakota with Love. After two more UA sessions, Live and Swinging and Dakota Staton with Strings, she exited the label and did not cut another record for eight years. Upon relocating to Britain in 1965, Staton worked hotels and cruise ships, and was largely forgotten by the time she returned to the U.S. in the early ’70s, signing to Groove Merchant and cutting the 1972 comeback attempt Madame Foo Foo with soul-jazz great Richard “Groove” Holmes. Sessions for Muse and Simitar followed, and in 1999 she signed with High Note for her final studio date, A Packet of Love Letters. Staton’s health declined slowly but steadily in the years to follow, and she died on April 10, 2007, at the age of 76. – Jason Ankeny

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Dakota Staton – Softly (1960/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

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Dakota Staton – Softly & ‘Round Midnight (1960 & 1961) (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

This two-fer reissue features a pair of out of print Dakota Staton LPs: “Softly” and “Round Midnight”, both originally issued on Capitol Records in 1960 and 1961, respectively. Highlights among the 24 pop standards include “The Folks Who Live on the Hill”, “The Very Thought of You”, and “I Can’t Get Started”. This is a nice sampler of familiar items that should satisfy the needs of casual fans.

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Dakota Staton – More Than The Most! (1959/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

Recorded in 1959, this is one of Dakota Staton’s most consistently pleasing albums. The band is excellent (directed by Sid Feller), with good solo work from various members to go along with Dakota’s fine singing. Tune selection is very good, and there’s a good balance between slow ballads and quicker tempoed tunes. Highlights include IT’S YOU OR NO ONE, THE SONG IS ENDED, and EAST OF THE SUN. SOME DAYS IT’S MONDAY is downright sultry, a Staton specialty.

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Dakota Staton – Dynamic! (1959/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

One of Dakota Staton’s early albums, DYNAMIC! definitely lives up to the promise of it’s title. With some magical arrangements from Sid Feller, Ms. Staton riffs her way through a selection of jazz and theatre standards, stamping each and every one with her unique brand of musical showmanship.

Highlights would definitely have to include “Let Me Off Uptown” (full of Staton’s spunky attitude), “When Sunny Gets Blue” (with one of the most beautiful lyrics you’ll ever have the pleasure to hear); and “The Party’s Over” (from the Broadway musical “Bells Are Ringing”).

If you’re a jazz fan you’ll really enjoy the snappy vocal stylings of Miss Dakota Staton. A treasure.

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Dakota Staton – Dakota Sings Ballads And The Blues (1960/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 3, 2022 · Comments off

Dakota Staton Sings Ballads and the Blues is one of my favorite compilations! It has 12 tracks from “Dakota” recorded in 1960 and 12 tracks “Dakota Staton Sings Ballads and the Blues recorded in 1959, with 2 bonus tracks (“On Chapel Hill,” and “Porgy”) with the Norman Simmon’s Orchestra and great liner notes. The only way to describe this CD is that it swings as is evident by opening tune “Rock Me To Sleep” followed by “If I Love Again.” The up tempo rhythm for “Green Dolphin Street, and “Pick Yourself Up” shows that Dakota can keep up with the best of them. “Trapped” remains one of my personal favorites because it is funky and jazzy at the same time, not to mention the great lyrics. Her call and answer response on “Love Me” takes you back to the smoke filled nightclub days as does the finger snapping you can’t resist when listening to “My Babe.” The words and rhythm of “Seems Like You Just Don’t care” makes it just fun to listen to and shows how much Dakota liked to have fun when singing.

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