Patti Austin (born August 10, 1950) is an American R&B, pop, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer and songwriter.

Music career

Austin was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

on Long Island.

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

have referred to themselves as her godparents. 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". 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. She sang "

The Closer I Get to You "The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, two former members of Miles Davis's band, who were members of Flac ...

" for Tom Browne's album ''

Browne Sugar ''Browne Sugar'' is the debut album by Tom Browne (trumpeter), Tom Browne. It was released in 1979 on the GRP Records and reached number six on the Jazz Album chart in 1979. Track listing #"Throw Down" (Tom Browne (trumpeter), Tom Browne) – ...

'', a duet with Michael Jackson for his album '' Off the Wall'', and a duet with

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

on "Moody's Mood for Love". After singing on Quincy Jones's album '' The Dude'', she signed a contract with his record label,

Qwest Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

, 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 GRP for four releases, including ''Love Is Gonna Getcha'', which contained the singles "Good in Love" and "Through the Test of Time". Austin was booked for

United Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in S ...

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, but because her mother suffered a stroke days before, she cancelled her ticket and flew at a different time. In 2003, she collaborated with

Frances Yip Frances Yip Lai-yee (born 1947) is a Hong Kong English pop and Cantopop singer. She is best known for performing many of the theme songs for television series produced by TVB in the 1980s and early 1990s. Biography Born in 1947, Yip is of H ...

on ''Papillon III'' in the rotunda of

San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomi ...

to help the

Jade Ribbon Campaign The Jade Ribbon Campaign (JRC) also known as JoinJade, was launched by the Asian Liver Center (ALC) at Stanford University in May 2001 during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month to help spread awareness internationally about hepatitis B, hepatiti ...

of Stanford University. A companion CD/DVD was released with Austin and Yip singing duets in Mandarin. A performance in 2000 with the Germany-based

WDR Big Band WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signalling ...

led to later recordings with the Germany-based ensemble that yielded two of Austin's six Grammy nominations: ''For Ella'' (2002) was a tribute to

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. A 2007 release with the band and arranger Michael Abene, ''Avant Gershwin'', earned her the trophy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. During a 2007 interview, Austin spoke of reluctantly attending as a teenager one of

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

'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." In 2011, ''Sound Advice'' was released containing cover versions of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

'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 Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

'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 The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

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.

Awards and honors

* Grammy Award, Best Jazz Vocal Album, ''Avant Gershwin'', 2008 * Honorary doctorate,

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Filmography

References

External links

Official site

Patti Austin from the CTI, Qwest and GRP Years at Webstarts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Patti 1950 births Living people Jazz musicians from New York (state) People from Bay Shore, New York People from Harlem Singers from New York City 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers American contraltos American dance musicians American women jazz singers American jazz singers American rhythm and blues singers Grammy Award winners GRP Records artists Qwest Records artists RCA Victor artists CTI Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers