Staton, Dakota (Aliyah Rabia)

Staton, Dakota (Aliyah Rabia), dynamic singer whose star rose quickly in the mid-1950s; b. Pittsburgh, Pa., June 3, 1932. Dakota Staton has never attained the notoriety deserving of her talent. She studied at the Filion School of Music in Pittsburgh and sang professionally with her sisters as well as singing with her brother’s orchestra. Moving to N.Y., she took part in a jam session at the Baby Grand club, in Harlem, n i 1954. She caused a stir and landed a record contract with Capitol in 1955. With the popularity of her first recording, The Late, Late Show, she was voted most promising newcomer by Down Beat’s readers. In 1958, she recorded with George Shearing. Moving to Europe in 1965, she performed and spent time in England and Germany. She returned to N.Y.in 1970, and has continued to perform and record on into the 1990s. Sometime between the 1950s and the 1990s, she took the name Aliyah Rabia. No matter what names she uses, the gifted singer’s power, stage presence, and natural swingability instantly grab audiences.

Discography

The Late, Late Show (1957); In the Night (1958); Time o t Swing (1959); Round Midnight (1960); Dakota at Storyville (1961); Live and Swinging (1963); Manny Album Big Band (1973); Dakota Staton (1990); Dakota Staton with the Manny Album Big Band (1990); Darling Please Save Your Lovefor Me (1991); Isn’t This a Lovely Day (1995).

—Susan K. Berlowitz