DAKOTA STATON - Darling Please Save Your Love (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 The repertoire is fine on this CD, as is the backup group (Bill Easley on reeds, pianist Bross Townsend, bassist Leon Dorsey and drummer Michael Carvin). Unfortunately, Dakota Staton's singing is quite erratic -- her vibrato is overly wide, and she shows too much emotion in spots and overall sounds a bit past her prime. Considering that her next recording, Isn't This a Lovely Day, was on a higher level, this particular project obviously found the singer on an off day. The versions of standards (including "I Thought About You," "Save Your Love for Me," "I'm Just a Lucky So and So" and the amusingly titled "Your Husband's Cheating On Us") are OK, but fall short of their potential and what Dakota Staton is capable of. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    I Thought About You 3:32
James Van Heusen / Johnny Mercer
2     You've Changed 3:39
Bill Carey / Carl Fischer
3     I Can't Quit You Baby 4:43
Willie Dixon    
4     You Better Go Now 4:15
Irvin Graham / Bix Reichner
5     Gone With the Wind 1:33
Herbert Magidson / Allie Wrubel
6     Save Your Love for Me 5:05
Buddy Johnson    
7     East of the Sun 2:12
Brooks Bowman    
8     Walking the Back Streets 5:16
Booker T. Jones    
9     I'm Just a Lucky So and So 3:13
Mack David / Duke Ellington    
10     Skylark 4:32
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer    
11     Your Husband's Cheating on Us 5:29
Denise LaSalle
Credits :
Bass – Leon Dorsey
Drums – Michael Carvin
Piano – Bross Townsend
Saxophone, Flute – Bill Easley
Vocals – Dakota Staton