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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, songwriter |
| Years active | 1954–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | pattiaustin |
Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B, pop, and jazz singer and songwriter best known for "Baby, Come to Me", her 1982 duet with James Ingram, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 after its re-release that same year.
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 referred to themselves as her godparents. [3] [4]
When Austin was four years old, she performed at the Apollo Theater. As a teenager she recorded commercial jingles and worked as a session singer in soul and R&B. 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 backing vocals on the track "Everybody has a Dream" for Billy Joel's hit album The Stranger (album) in 1977. 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. A second duet with Ingram, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", appeared on soundtrack to the film Best Friends (1982). Her final album for Qwest, The Real Me contained versions of jazz standards. Austin moved on to [5] GRP for four releases, including 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 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]
A performance in 2000 with the Germany-based WDR Big Band [4] led to later recordings with the Germany-based ensemble that yielded two of Austin's six Grammy nominations: [8] For Ella (2002) was a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. [4] [5] A 2007 release with the band and arranger Michael Abene, Avant Gershwin, earned her the trophy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. [9] [10]
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." [11]
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 Oscar-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on June 21, 2013. [12]
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. [13]
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US R&B [16] | US Jazz [16] | UK [17] | ||||
| 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 | |||||||
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US R&B [16] | US Jazz [16] | |||||
| 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 | |||||||
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B [16] | US Hot 100 [16] | US A.C [16] | US Dance [16] | UK [17] [18] | |||
| 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!! |
| "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 |
| "Razzamatazz" (with Quincy Jones) | 17 | — | — | — | 11 | The Dude | |
| "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" (with Quincy Jones) | — | — | — | — | 52 | ||
| "Every Home Should Have One" | 55 | 62 | 24 | — | — | Every Home Should Have One | |
| 1982 | "Baby, Come to Me" (with James Ingram) | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | 11 | |
| 1983 | "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (with James Ingram) | 6 | 45 | 5 | — | — | It's Your Night |
| "In My Life" | 92 | — | — | — | — | In My Life | |
| 1984 | "It's Gonna Be Special" | 15 | 82 | — | 5 | — | Patti Austin Two of a Kind original soundtrack |
| "Rhythm of the Street" | 33 | — | — | 11 | 96 | Patti Austin | |
| "Shoot the Moon" | 49 | — | — | 16 | — | ||
| 1985 | "Honey for the Bees" | 24 | — | — | 6 | — | Gettin' Away with Murder |
| "Gettin' Away with Murder" | 72 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" (with Narada Michael Walden) | 39 | 106 | — | — | 87 | The Nature of Things | |
| 1986 | "The Heat of Heat" | 13 | 55 | — | 14 | 76 | Gettin' Away with Murder |
| 1989 | "Any Other Fool" (with Sadao Watanabe) | — | — | 6 | — | — | Front Seat |
| 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" (with George Benson) | — | — | — | — | 68 | Darlings Delight |
| 1994 | "Reach" | — | — | — | 4 | — | That Secret Place |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart and/or was not released in that format | |||||||
| 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 |
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