Here are a few that some of you might not be too familiar with:
Dakota Staton - Dynamic!
Dakota Staton was never a household name as a jazz vocalist. She did record two albums that were especially worthwhile, Dynamic! and its predecessor, The Late, Late Show. Staton does a somewhat interesting if not surprising interpretation of the song Let Me Off Uptown, which was made famous by Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge when they were both with Gene Krupa's big band in the late 1940s. The rest of the album features a mix of songs from the Great American Song Book, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, and George and Ira Gershwin. It's a good album and Staton has the vocal pipes to match some of the intense moments that these tunes call for. If the album has a weakness it is that some of the arrangements are not quite up to the challenge of the songs.
Helen Humes - Songs I like to Sing!
Helen Humes had a softly spoken, girlish voice that had an angelic sound to it. I always loved her gently swinging style, which seemed to fit her voice perfectly. She was never really vocally intense nor did she sing many ballads. Light swing was most certainly her forte, and in that idiom she had a singular captivating power over audiences. The downside to her upbeat style is that when she did take on an emotionally wrenching ballad she just couldn't pull it off convincingly. To wit, her attempt on this album at the song Mean to Me lacks the pain that artists such as Billie Holiday and Judy Garland brought to it. She eventually works it up into a mid tempo swing number which just isn't right for this song. Other than this and one other misstep, the rest of the album is a winner and highly recommended.
And lastly here is an artist that comes out of left field that I doubt anyone under the age of 45 has even heard of...
Freda Payne - After The Lights Go Down Low And Much More!!!
If you are 45 or older and the name Freda Payne sorta sounds familiar...well it should. If you have ever heard the 1970 AM radio hit Band of Gold...that's Freda Payne. Before she found her 15 minutes of fame on AM radio, she was actually an emerging jazz singer in the early 1960s. This 1963 album is her contribution to jazz, and it is a fine effort with good performances of songs such as Sweet September, 'Round Midnight and Lonely Woman. It's certainly worth checking out.
--Jerome
Dakota Staton - Dynamic!
Dakota Staton was never a household name as a jazz vocalist. She did record two albums that were especially worthwhile, Dynamic! and its predecessor, The Late, Late Show. Staton does a somewhat interesting if not surprising interpretation of the song Let Me Off Uptown, which was made famous by Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge when they were both with Gene Krupa's big band in the late 1940s. The rest of the album features a mix of songs from the Great American Song Book, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, and George and Ira Gershwin. It's a good album and Staton has the vocal pipes to match some of the intense moments that these tunes call for. If the album has a weakness it is that some of the arrangements are not quite up to the challenge of the songs.
Helen Humes - Songs I like to Sing!
Helen Humes had a softly spoken, girlish voice that had an angelic sound to it. I always loved her gently swinging style, which seemed to fit her voice perfectly. She was never really vocally intense nor did she sing many ballads. Light swing was most certainly her forte, and in that idiom she had a singular captivating power over audiences. The downside to her upbeat style is that when she did take on an emotionally wrenching ballad she just couldn't pull it off convincingly. To wit, her attempt on this album at the song Mean to Me lacks the pain that artists such as Billie Holiday and Judy Garland brought to it. She eventually works it up into a mid tempo swing number which just isn't right for this song. Other than this and one other misstep, the rest of the album is a winner and highly recommended.
And lastly here is an artist that comes out of left field that I doubt anyone under the age of 45 has even heard of...
Freda Payne - After The Lights Go Down Low And Much More!!!
If you are 45 or older and the name Freda Payne sorta sounds familiar...well it should. If you have ever heard the 1970 AM radio hit Band of Gold...that's Freda Payne. Before she found her 15 minutes of fame on AM radio, she was actually an emerging jazz singer in the early 1960s. This 1963 album is her contribution to jazz, and it is a fine effort with good performances of songs such as Sweet September, 'Round Midnight and Lonely Woman. It's certainly worth checking out.
--Jerome
