Dakota Staton - Time to Swing (1959) [2009]

Dakota Staton was a classy Sarah-influenced vocalist who easily straddled the worlds of jazz and supper club pop. Her biggest success, 1957's "The Late, Late Show," had a sort of novelty-value sing-song quality, almost a pre-requisite for a jazz side to hit the pop charts in the '50s. TIME TO SWING is a short and breezy Capitol LP from 1959, the mood uptempo though there are some ballad treatments here, like "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Until The Real Thing Comes Along." The clean, lightly- scored arrangments are by Sid Feller, a Capitol house-arranger at the time. As stated, the album is a short one; all the tracks clock in under 2:50 and a few are under 2:00! The reissue label DRG (which has been licensing neglected Capitol LPs as of late) includes five bonus cuts to make up the shortfall, including a fine version of "You've Changed," which Billie Holiday memorably introduced on her 1958 LADY IN SATIN.



Tracks:

01. When Lights Are Low (Carter-Williams) - 1:56
02. Willow Weep for Me (Ronell) - 2:31
03. But Not for Me (Gershwin-Gershwin) - 1:55
04. You Don't Know What Love Is (DePaul-Raye) - 2:28
05. The Best Thing for You (Berlin) - 1:46
06. The Song Is You (Kern-Hammerstein) - 2:13
07. Avalon (Rose-DeSylva-Jolson) - 2:03
08. Baby, Don't You Cry (Johnson) - 2:35
09. Let Me Know (Hendricks-Jones) - 2:35
10. (It Will Have to Do) Until the Real Thing Comes Along (Freeman-Holiner-Nichols-Chaplin-Cahn) - 2:37
11. If I Should Lose You (Rainger-Robin) - 2:49
12. Gone with the Wind (Wrubel-Magidson) - 1:43
13. You've Changed (Fischer-Carey) - 2:51
14. All in My Mind (Kirkland-Johnson-Brown) - 2:27
15. Detour Ahead (Carter-Ellis-Frigo) - 3:04
16. Once There Lived a Fool (Robinson) - 2:28
17. You'd Better Go Now (Reichner-Graham) - 2:30