Becoming Dakota Brown

Dakota Staton was a jazz and R&B singer very much in the mould of Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington, whose style was sultry and sophisticated but who was extrovert and funky enough to share an R&B stage with the likes of Fats Domino and Big Joe Turner. She paid her dues on the jazz club circuit before signing to Capitol and released a number of singles and claimed Down Beat magazine's Most Promising Newcomer award before recording her No. 4 hit album The Late, Late Show in 1957. This great-value 55-track 2-CD set comprises all her recordings released as singles from her debut in 1955, along with all the tracks from her first four albums The Late, Late Show, In The Night, Dynamic and Crazy He Calls Me. It features performances with some noted musicians and arrangers, including Nelson Riddle, George Shearing, Harry Sweets Edison, Jonah Jones, Hank Jones, Van Alexander, Toots Thielemans and Al McKibbon. It's a comprehensive presentation of her studio work during the first and probably most significant era in her career, and a great showcase for the talent of a noted vocal stylist.

Avid Jazz continues with its Five Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Dakota Staton complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Late Late Show”; “Dynamic!”; “More Than The Most” “ Crazy He Calls Me” and “Time To Swing”.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dakota Staton attended the famed George Westinghouse High School, (alumni include pianist Ahmed Jamal, possibly at the same time!) and went on to study music before entering the music scene through that tried and tested, and very tough route, of the night club circuit. From a young age she was travelling around the country appearing in night clubs from Detroit to Indianapolis to Cleveland and to St. Louis and to Harlem in New York, where she was discovered by Capitol Records producer Dave Cavanaugh…