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

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''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 m ...

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 on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, New York, to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist. She was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island. Quincy Jones 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 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

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" for Tom Browne's album ''

Browne Sugar ''Browne Sugar'' is the debut album by 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) – 3:56 #"I Never Was a Cowboy" (Dave Grus ...

'', a duet with Michael Jackson for his album '' Off the Wall'', and a duet with George Benson on "Moody's Mood for Love". 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 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 So ...

on September 11, 2001, 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 on ''Papillon III'' in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall 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 (HBV) a ...

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 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'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 46,6 ...

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

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