Highly respected and sultry jazz and blues singer, Ms.
Highly respected and sultry jazz and blues singer, Ms. Dakota Staton, (pronounced STAY-Ton) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1930. She began singing and dancing at the age of 7 She received classical voice training and by the time she was 18, she began performing on the nightclub circuit in Detroit began to tour regionally and nationally. It was during a Harlem jam session at the Baby Grand Night Club in 1954 that she was discovered and offered a recording contract with Capitol Records. Ms Staton, often called one of America’s great vocal stylists, was known from the 1950s on for her bright, trumpetlike sound and tough, sassy style. One of her most famous albums, “What Do You Know About Love?,” which produced the jazz and blues classics “Broadway” and “My Funny Valentine” made her an icon and legend among musicians and fans firmly entrenched in the jazz and blues. In spite of her success, Ms Staton never attained the fame of singers like Dinah Washington, whom she cited as a deep influence due to the emergence of the rock’ n’ roll movement which turn the pushed aside the blues/jazz sound of the previous era. Nevertheless, she continued to perform well into her 60’s and was known for her energetic and entertaining live performances until her health began to fail.