Patti Austin
    Patti Austin was born on August 10, 1948 in New York City. Her father, Gordon, was a well known jazz trombonist who often worked for Quincy Jones. It was through his session work that her father came to ask Quincy and Dinah Washington to be Patti's godparents. The Austin household was a haven for musicians, singers and performers during Patti's formative years. With all this talent around it was only natural that little Patti would start singing at an early age. By the time she was ten she had already appeared on stage with her godmother Dinah Washington and family friend Sammy Davis Jr.
     Having decided on her career choice at an early age, her parents allowed her to perform occasional spots on shows with her father and a host of family friends. In the summer of 1965 17-year old Patti did her first tour with Harry Belafonte, another close family friend. By the time she graduated high school the following year she signed her first record deal with Coral Records. Several singles were released beginning with 1966's "Take Your Time." The sides "Leave A Little Love," "I Wanna Be Loved" and "What A Difference A Day Makes" followed, but with virtually no success.
     Later in 1966 she did her first session as a background vocalist on James Brown's number one R&B hit "It's A Man's Man's Man's World." This began a legendary run as a highly sought after session singer, quickly Patti became the session queen appearing on albums by popular artists like Cat Stevens and Paul Simon.
     In 1969 she took another stab at solo success and released the single "Family Tree" for United Artists Records. The record barely made it to the top fifty. She continued with her session work and eventually branched out into commercial jingles. At one point Patti could be heard on more than 75 television and radio commercials for everything from Avon,The New York Tourism Bureau, Budweiser and Mazola Cooking Oil to the cat food Meow Mix!
     During her spare time Patti took up song writing, in addition to her session work, commercial jingles and touring. By 1975 Patti had become a prolific songwriter and when Creed Taylor asked her to sign to his CTI Records label she agreed. Here debut album was released in February 1976. "End Of The Rainbow" contained a spirited remake of the Pat Upton/Spiral Starecase hit "More Today Than Yesterday." But the real treats here are the self-penned tunes that Austin sings with conviction. "You Don't Have To Say You're Sorry," "Sweet Sadie The Savior," "Say You Love" and "Give It Time" are all adult contemporary standards that Patti layers with Gospel, Pop and R&B nuances. But the true treasures are "In My Life," a ballad covered in 1978 by Phoebe Snow and a personal favorite of Patti's that she re-recorded in the 1990's and "What's At The End Of The Rainbow." "Rainbow" is torch ballad that was an early signature tune for Austin. The moving musical question was the reason I and countless others purchased the album.
     Patti's second album for CTI was released in November 1977. "Havana Candy" featured 8 tracks, six by Austin, one by Austin and producer Dave Grusin and "Lost In The Stars" by German composer Kurt Weill and Ernestine Anderson. Producer Dave Grusin, a legend in his own right, steps in to assist Patti with "That's Enough For Me" a powerful tune belted with conviction. Of the self-penned selections Austin shines the brightest on the snappy "Golden Oldies" and the title track. However "I Need Somebody," "Little Baby," "I Just Want To Know" and "We're In Love" all pass the test of time. CTI was having its troubles financially at the time this was released. They recycled arrangements for all their artists and limited their budgets. Perhaps with that in mind we can understand it's lack of success. My guess is that CTI, or Patti herself, was unsure of how to market her considerable talents. A tight budget and lack of strong promotion were definitely causes for this gem to be overlooked. This album surfaced in the cut-out bins quickly and probably sold more as a cut-out than as a new release.
     Patti came the closest on 1979's "Live At The Bottom Line" to transferring onto vinyl the qualities that make her an outstanding vocalist outside the studio. There's more spontaneity, emotion, and charisma in the vocals on this album than on almost all her other releases combined; perhaps the nightclub setting inspired her, or, more likely, Austin was free to sing without any agendas, marketing strategies, or producers' visions being factored into the process. Witness her awe inspiring take on the Lesley Gore/Ellen Weston number "Love Me By Name." Listen to her renditions of Randy Newman's "Rider In The Rain" or Stephen Bishop's "One More Night" and you'll hear a consumate artist making them her own. Nothing is sacred as she takes on "You're The One That I Want" from "Grease" or re-tools Grey & Hanks disco number "You Fooled Me." She bookends the album with covers of the Jackson Five's "Jump For Joy" and L.T.D.'s "Let's All Live And Give Together." This album, one of her all-time finest, has been reissued on compact disc.
     The fourth album Patti cut for the CTI label wasn't much different from the previous three. 1980's "Body Language" was a patchwork quilt: a little fusion, a little quasi-jazz, some urban contemporary material, and even a standard or two. She sang them all with ease and grace, although things were so smooth they were almost comatose at times. The album did feature a few stellar standouts like: "He's Killing Me (Ooh-Wee)," "Another Nail For My Heart" and "People In Love (Do The Strangest Things)."
     Despite not having a monster album of her own, Patti was still enjoying the fruits of her labor. She sang lead vocals for Japanese koto player Yutaka Yokokura on "Love Light" in 1978, did a duet with Michael Jackson on "It's The Falling In Love" for "Off The Wall," and sang "The Closer I Get To You" on Tom Browne's album in 1979. Austin also dueted with George Benson on "Moody's Mood For Love" in 1980. Patti did vocals on Quincy Jones' "The Dude" LP in 1981, this gave her the first of several club hits with the rollocking "Razzamatazz."
     Having worked with her godfather Quincy a few years back on his Michael Jackson production, and most recently on his own album, it was time for "Q" to return the favor and produce one for her. Released in September 1981, "Every Home Should Have One" shot Patti to the top of the club charts with the 12" remix of "Do You Love Me." A follow-up, "The Genie" didn't fare as well and "Symphony Of Love," a tribute to Bob Marley slows the whole production down. The album's real prize was "Baby Come To Me." It debuted on April 24, 1982 at 81, peaked at 73 two weeks later and then fell off the charts. In the summer of that year ABC's daily soap "General Hospital" used the track for a love scene. The song received such a flood of requests from the fans that it was given a new catalogue number and reissued. Re-released on October 16, 1982 it entered at 91 and 18 weeks later on February 19, 1983 it became Patti's first, and so far, only number one hit. Quite a feat for any ballad to become a hit nearly a year after it's initial release. The surge in popularity also gave Patti her first million-selling album and single.
    "Baby Come To Me," a duet with James Ingram, was so popular that the two recorded another in 1983 for the film "Best Friends." Peaking at number 45 in July of 1983, "How Do You Keep The Music Playing" couldn't match their previous success. Also in 1983 CTI Records released a compilation entitled "In My Life" trying to capitalize off of her recent success.
     With a nearly three year gap between original albums Patti bounced back with her 1984 release "Patti Austin." Without a doubt her most commercially viable album ever. A pair of singles, "Hot! In The Flames Of Love" and "Star Struck," both got R&B radio attention. And then there's the club hits, "It's Gonna Be Special" was the first 12" released, it enjoyed moderate club play. Then came the monster hit "Rhythm Of The Street." The song shot to the top of the club charts in the late summer and it's video, Patti's first, became a favorite on MTV. A third 12" single was remixed and pulled from the album, "Shoot The Moon," although a well crafted production, it's down tempo seemed out of sync with her previous two club hits and it came and went without much notice. Unlike radio audiences, who'll accept an uptempo hit and then a ballad, club audiences tended to associate a style and sound with a particular performer. When you release several club hits in an uptempo vein and then follow it with a down tempo track a performer can usually expect to bomb out.
     "Getting Away With Murder" was released in October 1985 and was a reasonable success. Making the Top 50 on the R&B chart and throwing off three R&B chart singles, "Honey For The Bees," "The Heat Of Heat," (both also received moderate club play,) and the title track. But you could tell it was supposed to do a lot better on the pop chart: five heavyweight producers (Russ Titelman, Tommy LiPuma, Monte Moir, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis), plus 14 songwriters, and appearances by Chaka Khan, Dan Hartman, Luther Vandross, Ralph MacDonald, Jeff Lorber and Billy Joel, contributed to what was doubtless a big-budget production, and that means label head Quincy Jones was looking for a lot more in the way of crossover than a low chart ranking for "The Heat Of Heat." In retrospect, the fault lies with all that high-priced help, while Austin gives her all in any guise they devise for her — sultry balladeer, disco diva, pop princess. Some artists can use many producers and many styles and make it work, and true Patti is versatile enough to sing anything, but she would have been wise to limit her scope on this release.
     Furthering her talents, Patti began dabbling in films as early as 1970. "It's Your Thing" was highlights of a concert filmed at Yankee Stadium in New York City on June 21, 1969. Besides Patti, the concert captured Clara Ward, Moms Mabley, Edwin Hawkins and Ike and Tina Turner for posterity. Next came choral director duties for the 1978 fiasco "The Wiz." In addition she sang in the adult and children's choirs for the film. Her next celluloid appearance was as a backup singer alongside Vivan Cherry and Ullanda McCullough in Paul Simon's 1980 semi-autobiographical turkey "One Trick Pony." The film also cast The Lovin' Spoonful, The B-52's, Sam & Dave, David Sanborn and Tiny Tim as themselves. It was 1988's "Tucker" that finally gave Patti the chance to shine as an actress in the role of Millie, Tucker's cook. Her performance garnered her rave reviews and made many wonder why she didn't pursue acting in a serious manner. Her most recent appearance was in the 1999 mockumentary "Jackie's Back!" Patti plays Vesta Crotchley (Jackie's Third Grade Teacher) to hilarious results. Several appearances on TV's "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper" failed to lead to a reoccuring role and Patti returned to her first love music.
     With her 1988 release, "The Real Me," Patti finally comes full circle to the music she loves best. Accompanying the picture of 5-year old Patti, (in her Mary Janes and ponytail), with  godmother Dinah Washington, she credits Edna and Gordon Austin, Leonard Bernstein, Rosemary Clooney, Francis Coppola, Jeff Bridges, Michael Nouri, Narada Michael Walden and Julie Styne as inspirations for this project. That should give you an idea of where her head was at.
With standards like: "Cry Me A River," "Mood Indigo," "Love Letters" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" how can she lose? Patt's incomparable vocals bring life to Quincy Jones' 1956 "Stockholm Sweetnin'" and Cole Porter's "True Love." With each track she lists the source of inspiration for that particular cut, such as Thelma Houston's "Sunshower" for her rendition of "Someone Is Standing Outside." With heavyweights like Luther Vandross, Bruce Hornsby, Michael McDonald, Howard Hewitt and Earl Klugh this album is a top notch effort.
     With apologies to Dianne Reeves, Patti has always quite simply been the best jack-of-all-genre singers on the planet, crossing effortlessly from jazz to pop and R&B with a voice that's so sweet, rich, and lovely, it can't help but warm the heart. On the heels of her 1988 masterpiece "The Real Me," her GRP debut, "Love Is Gonna Getcha," packs a wallop of festive up tempo tunes, torchy message songs, passionate ballads, and breezy tenderness — all delivered with a truly Austin-tatious flair. Austin surrounds herself with some of pop jazz's best here: Dave Grusin (whose production is flawless), Don Grusin (with whom she co-wrote the happy "Ooh Wee (The Carnival)"), Lee Ritenour, and Nelson Rangell (whose alto soars on the title cut). But as tantalizing as the music is, it is Austin who gives the collection wings with a powerful voice whose mood she so artfully modulates depending on the feel of the individual tune. Soft and tender on her own composition "In My Life," easy and lilting for "In My Dreams," and full of genuine excitement for "Through The Test Of Time." A real 5-star winner!
     1991's "Carry On" covers everything from fusion and pop to more mainstream jazz and soul. Excellent covers of the Rascals hit "How Can I Be Sure" and The Mamas & The Papas "Monday, Monday" flesh out this release. 1992's "Live" album follows Patti through her most recent releases. She includes the hits "Do You Love Me" and "Baby Come To Me" but there's a noticeable gap of missing selections. She does include "I Can Cook, Too" and "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" but spends over 20 minutes of disc space on dialogue. However when she does sing it proves just why she's one of the all time greatest singers in the modern musical landscape.
     Patti's fourth GRP album, 1994's "That Secret Place," is perhaps her most musically diverse, covering an ambitious range of material. While each successive album she's recorded over that period has given the versatile entertainer an opportunity to showcase different elements of her artistry, this album gives her the chance to highlight her skills as a vocal stylist and interpreter with few peers. There's the lilting, jazz inflected title track (a tribute to Miles Davis), the reggae flavored "Captivated" and the poignant ballad "Somebody Make Me Laugh," just for starters. Other standouts include the wistful DeBarge-penned "Broken Dreams," a be bop finger snappin' take on Thomas Dolby's zesty "Ability To Swing," a spirited cover of Aretha's "Rock Steady" and the gospel flavored "Reach." She saves the best for last, however, with the classical flavored "Stars In Our Eyes," a gorgeous and haunting look back at a failed relationship with subtle keyboard harmonies by Bob James. Austin can do it all herself, but she enjoys the camaraderie she shares on various cuts with Vesta, Mervyn, Tata Vega and Phil Perry.
     1998's "In & Out Of Love," a one-shot for the Concord Jazz label features a dozen tracks of love found and love lost. Recently I caught a BET special with Patti on it. She sang the Three Degrees pleading saga "Maybe." I was blown away at how she commanded that song, singing it like I never could have imagined. It's here as well as a surprisingly good cover of the Seals & Crofts hit "Summer Breeze."
     1999's "Street Of Dreams" (on Intersound Records) was designed as a project for Patti to sing her favorite songs, regardless of genre. The heart of the album is in interpretations of "The Look Of Love, " "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Til There Was You," "I Only Have Eyes For You," "For Once In My Life" and "IGY (What A Beautiful World)." Austin is in terrific form throughout, breathing new life into songs that have been recorded numerous times.
     After affiliations with CTI (1976-80), Qwest (1981-88), and GRP (1990-1994), Patti Austin, as she passed the age of 50, seemed to have moved permanently from the soul jazz divisions of major labels to independents like Concord Jazz and Intersound. It is therefore something of a surprise that she has landed back at Quincy Jones' Warner Bros.-distributed Qwest label for her 15th album, 2001's "On The Way To Love." It's also good news, since a singer of Austin's talent (and there aren't many of those) deserves the exposure possible through major-label distribution. The question, of course, is what sort of commercial compromises it entails. The answer is that Qwest's vision for Austin, one she seems to endorse enthusiastically, is to take her right back to the kind of quiet storm/adult contemporary/smooth jazz approach that characterized most of her earlier Qwest releases in the 1980s. Paul Brown, Boney James' producer, has been brought in, and, not surprisingly, the saxophonist turns up on "If You Really Need Me Now," a track that also features Austin's old duet partner (and Qwest labelmate) James Ingram. Siedah Garrett, another Qwest stalwart, co-wrote the title song, and Austin herself contributed to the writing of three songs, among them "Love's Been Kind To Me Lately," an attractive pop song that, like many here, may be more welcome on contemporary jazz stations than anywhere else. The songs indulge in street argot here and there, but this is an upscale effort for the most part, music for middle-aged Terry McMillan fans who aren't Waiting to Exhale anymore, but still don't want to work up a sweat.
     With her last several albums geared to jazz and oldies it seems that we may never have another Patti Austin dance record to enjoy. But still, when Patti did 'disco' she couldn't be beat!
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