Patti Austin

Patti Austin (2007)

Patti Austin and the Orchester National de Jazz , Philharmonie de Luxembourg 2011

Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950 in New York City , New York ) is an American R&B , pop and jazz singer , also a songwriter (music and text), arranger of background vocals in particular and music producer . Her biggest hit, the ballad Baby, Come to Me , in a duet with James Ingram , was number one on the American singles charts for two weeks in 1983. In addition, she placed 20 hits on the R&B charts of her home country. After six Grammy nominations since 1981, she won the award for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2007: "Avant Gershwin" (with the WDR Big Band ).

Live and act

At the age of four, Austin caught the attention of producer Quincy Jones while her godmother Dinah Washington was making a record in which her father Gordon Austin played the trombone. From then on, Jones volunteered as a mentor and promoted her career. She first appeared at the Apollo Theater in Harlem when she was five . At the age of nine she was a member of the touring troupe of the "blues opera" Free and Easy and performed in 1959 and 1960 in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. At the age of 16 she won the Song Contest in Rio de Janeiro . In the 1960s and 1970s, she toured as a background singer with artists such as Sammy Davis Jr. , Harry Belafonte and Roberta Flack . She was also in demand as a studio singer. She can be heard on the albums Foreigner (1973) by Cat Stevens , Stingray (1976) by Joe Cocker and Futures (1977) by Burt Bacharach .

Meanwhile, Austin's own solo recordings flopped. Only with the single The Family Tree did she achieve a notable success in the American R&B charts in 1969 (number 46). Her recordings for Creed Taylor's CTI label brought her further attention : Austin released four albums here, with Say You Love (1977), We're in Love (1978) and Body Language (1980, an Isaac Hayes composition), she achieved more little R&B hits. She also sang the pop duet It's the Falling in Love with Michael Jackson , which was released in 1979 on his million-dollar album Off the Wall . Another duet, this time with George Benson and much more jazzy, sold millions of copies the following year as part of his album Give Me the Night .

Further attention and ultimately the breakthrough in the R&B charts brought Austin's participation on Quincy Jones' album The Dude in 1981. The single Razzamatazz made it into the top 20 of the R&B hit list. Her ultimate breakthrough was the duo Baby, Come to Me with James Ingram , another of Jones' protégés. The song was played in the General Hospital series and received special attention as a result. In early 1983 the title was number one in the American singles charts. In 1983 the song How Do You Keep the Music Playing followed , also a duet with Ingram. Jones had signed Austin for these recordings with his Qwest label . Here she released four lavishly produced albums by the end of the decade. Austin achieved more, much smaller hits with Do You Love Me? (1981), It's Gonna Be Special (1984, from the soundtrack for Two of the Same Kind ), Honey for the Bees (1985, cover of an Alison Moyet title) and The Heat of Heat (1986).

With the highly acclaimed but less successful album The Real Me , which includes standards like Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and True Love , Austin's collaboration with Qwest ended. In 1989 she was on the anniversary album for the cartoon series Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown ! involved. A year later, the jazz production Love Is Gonna Getcha at GRP followed. Austin took part in the New York Rock and Soul Revue , and in 1992 appeared alongside Barbra Streisand in benefit concerts for the Hollywood Women's Political Committee and for Commitment to Life IV for the benefit of AIDS.

She can also be heard on records by Billy Joel , Frankie Valli , Steely Dan and Paul Simon . Since the release of her tribute album For Ella with the WDR Big Band Cologne , which was nominated for a Grammy as Best Vocal Jazz Album in 2003 , the singer with the expressive voice has finally been perceived as a jazz singer. For Avant Gershwin as the best jazz singing album , she received a Grammy in 2008 together with the WDR Big Band.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1977	Havana candy	-	-	-	-	US116 (13 weeks) US	First published: 1977
1981	Every Home Should Have One	-	-	-	UK99 (1 week) UK	US36 (44 weeks) US	First published: September 1981
1984	Patti Austin	-	-	-	-	US87 (18 weeks) US	First published: 1984
1985	Gettin 'Away With Murder	-	-	-	-	US182 (4 weeks) US	First published: 1985
1990	Love is gonna getcha	-	-	-	-	US93 (17 weeks) US	First published: 1990

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1976: End of a Rainbow
• 1980: Body Language
• 1983: In My Life
• 1988: The Real Me
• 1991: Carry On
• 1994: That Secret Place
• 1996: Jukebox Dreams
• 1998: In & Out of Love
• 1999: Street of Dreams
• 2001: On the Way to Love
• 2002: For Ella
• 2003: "Papillon" featuring Patti Austin and Frances Yip
• 2007: Avant Gershwin
• 2011: Sound Advice
• 2016: Mighty Musical Fairy Tales

Live albums

• 1979: Live at The Bottom Line - This album exists in two distinctly different versions: For the original vinyl album, the live tracks were substantially revised by overdubbing in the studio (including the vocal parts). The producers of the first CD release (Columbia Jazz, 1991) dropped the overdubs and went back to the original live recordings. In 2017 the version of the vinyl first release (with the overdubs) was released on CD (King Record Co./Japan).
• 1992: Live
• 2017: Ella & Louis (with James Morrison )

Compilations

• 1983: In My Life
• 1994: The Best of Patti Austin
• 1995: The Ultimate Collection
• 1999: Take Away the Pain Stain
• 1999: The Best of Patti Austin (Japan only)
• 2001: The Very Best of Patti Austin
• 2002: The CTI Collection
• 2003: Baby Come to Me and Other Hits
• 2005: Love Collection
• 2007: Intimate

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1981	Razzamatazz The Very Best of Patti Austin / The Dude	-	-	-	UK11 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1981 (with Quincy Jones )
1982	Every Home Should Have One Every Home Should Have One	-	-	-	-	US62 (15 weeks) US	First published: January 1982
	Baby, Come to Me The Very Best of Patti Austin / Greatest Hits: The Power of Great Music	-	-	-	UK11 (11 weeks) UK	US1 gold (32 weeks)US	First published: April 1982 (with James Ingram )
1983	How Do You Keep The Music Playing The Very Best Of Patti Austin / It's Your Night	-	-	-	-	US45 (17 weeks) US	First published: April 1983 (with James Ingram)
1984	It's Gonna Be Special Patti Austin	-	-	-	-	US82 (4 weeks) US	First published: January 1984
	Rhythm of the Street Patti Austin	-	-	-	UK96 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 1984
1985	Gimme, Gimme, Gimme The Very Best of Patti Austin / The Nature of Things	-	-	-	UK87 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1985 (with Narada Michael Walden )
1986	The Heat of Heat Gettin 'Away with Murder	-	-	-	UK76 (3 weeks) UK	US55 (9 weeks) US	First published: March 1986
1992	I'll Keep Your Dreams Alive	-	-	-	UK68 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 1992 (with George Benson )

Award

2015: Joachim Ernst Berendt Prize of the City of Baden-Baden (Awarded on March 11, 2015 in Baden-Baden as part of the Mr. M's Jazz Club Festival)

Web links

Commons : Patti Austin  - Collection of Images

• www.pattiaustin.com - Official website
• Patti Austin at Allmusic (English)
• Patti Austin at Discogs (English)
• Patti Austin at the Internet Movie Database (English)

swell

1. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995, 1996 ISBN 0-89820-115-2
2. ^ GRAMMY Award Results for Patti Austin. In: www.grammy.com. Recording Academy, accessed August 3, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Supplement to the CD
4. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US