Patti Austin
Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter.
Patti Austin | |
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 Austin in 2000 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | August 10, 1950 Harlem, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, pop, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Labels | CTI, Qwest, GRP, Shanachie |
| Website | pattiaustin |
Music career
Austin was born in Harlem, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist.[1] She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island.[2] Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have referred to themselves as her godparents.[3][4]
When Austin was four years old, she performed at the Apollo Theater.[4] As a teenager she recorded commercial jingles and worked as a session singer in soul and R&B.[4] She had an R&B hit in 1969 with "Family Tree".[4] She sang backing vocals on Paul Simon's 1975 number-one hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". The jazz label CTI released her debut album, End of a Rainbow, in 1976.[5] She sang "The Closer I Get to You" for Tom Browne's album Browne Sugar, a duet with Michael Jackson for his album Off the Wall, and a duet with George Benson on "Moody's Mood for Love".[5] After singing on Quincy Jones's album The Dude, she signed a contract with his record label, Qwest, which released Every Home Should Have One with "Baby, Come to Me", a duet with James Ingram that became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard magazine pop chart.[5] A second duet with Ingram, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", appeared on soundtrack to the movie Best Friends (1982).[5] GRP released her album Love Is Gonna Getcha, which contained the singles "Good in Love" and "Through the Test of Time".[5]
Austin was booked for United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, but because her mother suffered a stroke days before, she cancelled her ticket and flew at a different time.[6]
In 2000 she performed with the WDR Big Band.[4] Her album The Real Me contained versions of jazz standards, while For Ella was a tribute to jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.[4][5] In 2003, she collaborated with Frances Yip on Papillon III in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall to help the Jade Ribbon Campaign of Stanford University. A companion CD/DVD was released with Austin and Yip singing duets in Mandarin.[7]
During a 2007 interview, Austin spoke of reluctantly attending as a teenager one of Judy Garland's last concerts and how the experience helped focus her career. "She ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric."[8]
In 2011, Sound Advice was released containing cover versions of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody", Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit of Love", the Jackson Five's "Give It Up", Bill Withers' "Lean on Me", and Don McLean's "Vincent". The album also included "The Grace of God", a song Austin wrote after watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show which included a woman with scarred face. Austin appeared in the documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on 21 June 2013.
In 2015, Austin appeared on Patrick Williams' Home Suite Home large jazz ensemble album, as vocalist for Williams' composition "52nd & Broadway," which won a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. [9]
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Patti Austin among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[10]
Awards and honors
- Grammy Award, Best Jazz Vocal Album, Avant Gershwin, 2008[11]
- Honorary doctorate, Berklee College of Music[12]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions[13][14][15] | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Jazz |
UK | ||||
| 1976 | End of a Rainbow | — | — | 31 | — | CTI | |
| 1977 | Havana Candy | 116 | — | — | — | ||
| 1980 | Body Language | — | 62 | 28 | — | ||
| 1981 | Every Home Should Have One | 36 | 16 | 9 | 99 | Qwest | |
| 1984 | Patti Austin | 87 | — | — | — | ||
| 1985 | Gettin' Away with Murder | 182 | 25 | — | — | ||
| 1988 | The Real Me | — | 56 | 7 | — | ||
| 1990 | Love Is Gonna Getcha | 93 | 45 | 4 | — | GRP | |
| 1991 | Carry On | — | 75 | 13 | — | ||
| 1994 | That Secret Place | — | — | 12 | — | ||
| 1996 | Jukebox Dreams (Japan Only) | — | — | — | — | Pony Canyon | |
| 1998 | In & Out of Love | — | — | — | — | Concord | |
| 1999 | Street of Dreams | — | — | — | — | Intersound / Platinum | |
| 2001 | On the Way to Love | — | — | 21 | — | Warner Bros. | |
| 2002 | For Ella | — | — | 7 | — | Playboy Jazz / Concord | |
| 2003 | "Papillon" featuring Patti Austin and Frances Yip | — | — | — | — | Independence Label | |
| 2007 | Avant Gershwin | — | — | 5 | — | Rendezvous | |
| 2011 | Sound Advice | 15 | — | Shanachie | |||
| 2016 | Mighty Musical Fairy Tales | — | Let's Roar | ||||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart and/or was not released in that territory | |||||||
Live albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions[13][14][15] | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Jazz |
UK | ||||
| 1979 | Live at the Bottom Line | — | — | 33 | — | CTI | |
| 1992 | Live | — | — | 20 | — | GRP | |
| 2017 | Ella and Louis | — | — | — | — | ABC Jazz | |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart and/or was not released in that territory | |||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B | US Hot 100 | US A.C | US Dance | UK | |||
| 1965 | "I Wanna Be Loved / A Most Unusual Boy" | — | — | — | — | — | (Coral 45 #62471) |
| 1966 | "Take Away The Pain Stain" | — | — | — | — | — | (Coral 45 #62491) |
| 1969 | "The Family Tree" | 46 | — | — | — | — | (United Artists 45 #50520) |
| 1971 | "Black California" | — | — | — | — | — | (Columbia 45 #45410) |
| 1972 | "Day by Day" | — | — | — | — | — | (Columbia 45 #45592) |
| 1977 | "Say You Love Me" | 63 | — | — | — | — | End of a Rainbow |
| 1978 | "Love, I Never Had It So Good" | 60 | — | — | — | — | Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! |
| 1978 | "We're in Love" | 90 | — | — | — | — | Havana Candy |
| 1980 | "Body Language" | 45 | — | — | — | — | Body Language |
| 1981 | "Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie" | 24 | — | — | 1 | 76 | Every Home Should Have One |
| 1981 | "Razzamatazz" (w/ Quincy Jones) | 17 | — | — | — | 11 | The Dude |
| "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" (w/ Quincy Jones) | — | — | — | — | 52 | The Dude | |
| 1981 | "Every Home Should Have One" | 55 | 62 | 24 | — | — | Every Home Should Have One |
| 1982 | "Baby, Come to Me" (w/ James Ingram) | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | 11 | Every Home Should Have One |
| 1983 | "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (w/ James Ingram) | 6 | 45 | 5 | — | — | Duets |
| 1983 | "In My Life" | 92 | — | — | — | — | In My Life |
| 1984 | "It's Gonna Be Special" | 15 | 82 | — | 5 | — | Patti Austin Two of a Kind original soundtrack |
| 1984 | "Rhythm of the Street" | 33 | — | — | 11 | 96 | Patti Austin |
| 1984 | "Shoot the Moon" | 49 | — | — | 16 | — | Patti Austin |
| 1985 | "Honey for the Bees" | 24 | — | — | 6 | — | Gettin' Away with Murder |
| 1985 | "Gettin' Away with Murder" | 72 | — | — | — | — | Gettin' Away with Murder |
| 1985 | "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" (w/ Narada Michael Walden) | 39 | 106 | — | — | 87 | The Nature of Things |
| 1986 | "The Heat of Heat" | 13 | 55 | — | 14 | 76 | Gettin' Away with Murder |
| 1990 | "Through the Test of Time" | 60 | — | 9 | — | — | Love Is Gonna Getcha |
| 1991 | "Givin' Into Love" | 55 | — | — | — | — | Carry On |
| 1992 | "I'll Keep Your Dreams Alive" (w/ George Benson) | — | — | — | — | 68 | |
| 1994 | "Reach" | — | — | — | 4 | — | That Secret Place |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart and/or was not released in that format | |||||||
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Wiz | The Wiz Singers Children's Choir / The Wiz Singers Adult Choir (voice) |
| 1988 | Tucker: The Man and his Dream | Millie |
| 2013 | 20 Feet from Stardom | Herself |
See also
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
References
- "Patti Austin - biography". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- The New Patti Austin Retrieved 2014-09-23.
- Murph, John. "Patti Austin: 5 Tips for Aspiring Singers". aarp.org. AARP. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- Yanow, Scott (2008). The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. Backbeat. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-87930-825-4.
- Wynn, Ron. "Patti Austin". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- White, Beverly; Brayton, Julie. "Singer Patti Austin Talks About 9/11 Experience". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- Engardio, Joel P. (May 22, 2002). "Dim Sum Diva". SF Weekly. San Francisco.
- "Topic Galleries". baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
- "Grammy Award Results for Pat (Patrick) Williams". grammy.com. 19 November 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- Rosen, Jody (June 25, 2019). "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- "Patti Austin". Grammy.com. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- "Jazz Beat: Sonny Rollins, Herb Alpert, Thelonious Monk". MTV News. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- "Patti Austin US chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- "Patti Austin US chart history". billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- "Patti Austin Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patti Austin. |
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