{"id":1046,"date":"2014-01-20T05:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:46:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:46:12","slug":"jazz-legend-dakota-staton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/20\/jazz-legend-dakota-staton\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz legend Dakota Staton"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Undated <\/a>
Undated picture of Staton. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Staton <\/a>
Staton last appearance in Pittsburgh in 1996, when she performed at the Hill House Auditorium as part of the Mellon Jazz Festival. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Staton <\/a>
Staton recorded more than 30 jazz albums. (Photo illustration by Steve Mellon\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A signed image of Staton, from the Ernest Tucker Photograph Collection, Detre Library and Archives, Sen. John Heinz History Center.\u00a0 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Dakota Staton\u2019s strong, sultry, soulful voice will transport you back to the 1950s, an era when people flocked to nightclubs to hear live music, especially jazz or rhythm and blues.<\/p>\n

Jazz critic Leonard Feather called Staton \u201ca dynamic song stylist.\u201d The New York Times said she influenced a generation of singers and called her \u201ca stylistic link between the earthiness of Dinah Washington and Big Maybelle and Chaka Khan\u2019s note-bending pop-fund iconoclasm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in 1930 in Pittsburgh, Staton attended Westinghouse High School in Homewood. At that high school, she joined Carl McVicker\u2019s Kadets, a swing band in which future jazz legend Ahmad Jamal played the piano.<\/p>\n

In 1954, she moved to New York City and recorded \u201cWhat Do You Know About Love?\/You\u2019re My Heart\u2019s Desire: for Capitol Records.<\/p>\n

In 1957, Capitol released her album, \u201cThe Late, Late Show,\u201d which became a classic. The title track rose to the fourth spot on the Billboard Top 100 because it crossed over to pop radio stations after frequent air play on jazz radio stations.<\/p>\n

Staton went on to perform with such jazz superstars as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Gene Krupa, George Shearing, Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins. Glamour was her middle name. She wore bouffant hair styles, sheathed her voluptuous figure in beaded gowns and topped her ensembles with a mink stole.<\/p>\n

Along with vocalists Etta Jones, Abbey Lincoln and Annie Ross, Staton\u2019s career was chronicled in a 2000 documentary called \u201cJazz Women.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2001, Pittsburgh honored Staton by inducting her into the Gallery of Stars at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty and gave her a star on the walk of fame in front of the theater.<\/p>\n

In 2007, she died at age 76 in New York City, leaving a legacy of more than 30 jazz recordings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dakota Staton\u2019s strong, sultry, soulful voice will transport you back to the 1950s, an era when people flocked to nightclubs to hear live music, especially jazz or rhythm and blues.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesJazz legend Dakota Staton<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[1264,986,1034,1035],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_mzlspxWhpX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C860&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5812,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/09\/09\/the-jazz-scene-at-eileens-in-homewood\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":0},"title":"The jazz scene at Eileen’s in Homewood","date":"September 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A single envelope of color photographs shows one of Pittsburgh's happening jazz scenes in the early 1980s.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Eileens-Bar-and-Grill-jazz-in-the-Zebra-Room-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":598,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/06\/04\/billy-eckstine-the-great-mr-b\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":1},"title":"Billy Eckstine, the great \u2018Mr. B.\u2019","date":"June 4, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Billy Eckstine left his mark on music as a band leader, mentor, entertainer and singer.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_n6m2qoliai1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C848&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1270,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/25\/stanley-turrentine-pittsburgh-born-jazz-great\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":2},"title":"Stanley Turrentine, Pittsburgh-born jazz great","date":"October 25, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Stanley Turrentine grew up around music.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_mv6v21X6Mx1rr5swxo1_1280-e1418782050385.jpg?fit=1200%2C832&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1227,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/11\/jazz-pianist-mary-lou-williams\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":3},"title":"Jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams","date":"November 11, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Mary Lou Williams was a self-taught pianist, composer and arranger who grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mvwwi40bmF1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=943%2C936&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6566,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/02\/24\/tim-stevens-singing-activist\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":4},"title":"Tim Stevens, Pittsburgh’s singing activist","date":"February 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Stevens' career as a musician lasted as long if not longer than his role as a civil rights activist, community advocate and volunteer.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/img023.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1426,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/06\/joe-negri-a-consummate-jazz-musician\/","url_meta":{"origin":1046,"position":5},"title":"Joe Negri, a consummate jazz musician","date":"September 6, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Joe Negri has been playing guitar for so long there\u2019s hardly a time he wasn\u2019t.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_msnoykASnf1rr5swxo5_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C1149&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4673,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions\/4673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}