Austin was born in Harlem, New York and grew up on Long Island. Her father was a Jazz musician.[citation needed] She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents.[citation needed] By the late 1960s Austin was a session musician and commercial jingle singer. During the 1980s, signed to Joness Qwest Records, she began her most prolific hit-making period. By this time she was both one of the leading background session vocalists, appearing on numerous famous albums by other artists, and also was known as Queen of The Jingles appearing on jingles for Burger King, Almay make-up, Avon, KFC, McDonalds, Meow Mix, Impulse, Stouffers, Maxwell House and the United States Army. She charted twenty R&B songs between 1969 and 1991 and had success on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where she hit number one in 1981 with Do You Love Me? / The Genie. The album containing that hit, Every Home Should Have One, also produced her biggest mainstream hit. Baby, Come to Me, a duet with James Ingram, initially peaked at number 73 on the Hot 100 in early 1982. After being featured as the love theme in a prominent storyline on the soap opera General Hospital, the song re-entered the pop chart in October and went to number one in February 1983. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA. She would later team up again with Ingram for How Do You Keep The Music Playing. That year, Austins single Its Gonna Be Special was featured on the soundtrack for the Olivia Newton-John/John Travolta film Two of a Kind. Though the film was not the major success envisioned for the re-teaming of the Grease stars, the soundtrack went Platinum and Austins single, produced by Quincy Jones, became one of her highest-profile hits. Its Gonna Be Special peaked at #5 on the Dance charts, #15 on the R&B charts, and charted on the Hot 100 in 1984.[citation needed] The song also appeared on her self-titled album of that year, and its follow-up single, Rhythm of the Street, remixed by John Jellybean Benitez, narrowly missed Billboards Dance Top Ten, though it peaked higher on Hi-NRG charts. The two songs were featured on a double-A-side 12 single. For Rhythm of the Street Austin shot her first music video. Next Austin released her third album in three years entitled Gettin Away With Murder. In addition to the title track, she had two more hit singles, Honey For The Bees (#24 R&B and #6 Dance) and The Heat of Heat. Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, noted for their later work with Janet Jackson, the latter track returned Austin to the top 15 of the R&B charts for what would be the last time to date. It would also be her last Hot 100 charting to date, although she would score a top-5 dance hit with the single Reach that appeared originally on her 1994 CD That Secret Place (GRP Records). Gettin Away With Murder used producers Russ Titelman, Tommy LiPuma, Monte Moir (of The Time), and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Billy Joel (Austin sang background on his Just The Way You Are), Dan Hartman, friends Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown, along with Chaka Khan were among the background vocalists on the project, with successful songwriters, Randy Goodrum, Michael Bolton, Jam & Lewis plus several other big name writers offering up their best compositions on what was likely a big budget affair. She next appeared with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen in Francis Ford Coppolas critically acclaimed period piece Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988). That year, Austin released The Real Me, a collection of standards which garnered her the first of several Top 10 showings on the Jazz Albums chart. The Real Me was chiefly produced by David Pack who had been a part of the Pop group Ambrosia. Austin served as a co-producer and as Executive Producer on the project. Austin sang Its the Falling in Love with Michael Jackson on his album Off The Wall. Other duet partners include George Benson (Moodys Mood for Love and Keep Your Dreams Alive), and Luther Vandross (Im Gonna Miss You In The Morning). Earlier shed recorded featured duets with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons on Our Day Will Come and Swearin To God with little billing. Austin also sang lead and background vocals on many contemporary Jazz instrumentalists records in the 1970s. In 1985 she sang lead vocals on a collaboration with her producer, Narada Michael Walden, and the single, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, went top 40 on the R&B charts. In 1991, she recorded the duet You Who Brought Me Love with music legend Johnny Mathis, which was received with critical acclaim. That same year she was invited to be a guest on a Johnny Mathis television special that was broadcast across North America. Austin led a new group of Raelettes for the 2006 album Ray Charles + Count Basie Orchestra = Genius². That group also featured veteran session singer Valerie Pinkston and members of the group Perry. During a 2007 interview promoting her latest recording, Austin reflected how as a teenager she reluctantly attended one of Judy Garlands last concerts and the experience helped focus her career, stating She (Judy Garland) ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric.[2] In 2007 Patti Austin participated in the Avo Session Basel with a program dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald. In 2008, fifty-three years after getting her first record contract, Patti Austin was awarded her first Grammy Award, winning Best Jazz Vocal Album for Avant Gershwin at the 50th annual Grammy Awards.[1] The award came for her ninth nomination in that category. Austin is co-producer and one of over 70 artists singing on We Are the World: 25 for Haiti, a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. In 2011 Austin released a mostly covers album project titled Sound Advice which contained re-works of Bob Dylans Gotta Serve Somebody, Brenda Russells A Little Bit Of Love, a lesser known Jacksons tune, Give It Up, her tribute to late friend/collaborator, Michael Jackson, a cover of Bill Withers, Lean On Me which she first sang at a milestone birthday for her Godfather Quincy Jones. Also on Sound Advice standout performances of Don McLeans Vincent (aka Starry Starry Night) and a deeply female take on My Way. Austin wrote the anthemic The Grace Of God after watching an episode of the old Oprah Winfrey Show which featured a facially scarred woman ... Keeping relevant, Austin offered the bouncy slice of Pop/Rock/RandB Round And Round including the latest trendy vocal effects, though Austin remains one singer who clearly needs no such production techniques to cover a crystal clear, flexible, and knowing voice imitated by many, duplicated by none. Austin co-wrote and sings in the star-studded L.O.V.E. - Let One Voice Emerge, encouraging especially younger Americans to get out there and exercise their right to vote.[citation needed] Austin appears in the Academy Award-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on 21 June 2013
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 20:44:50 +0000
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