Patti Austin
Soloist
Patti Austin’s keen interest in being a total entertainer likely started when she stepped onto the stage of the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem at the age of four at the urging of music legend Dinah Washington. The daughter of jazz trombonist Gordon Austin, Patti was a bonafide recording artist in her teens, achieving her first chart success in 1969 with “The Family Tree” (a Top 50 R&B single) after a string of 45s that would later become treasured collector’s items among Britain’s Northern soul community.
During the 70s Patti was the undisputed “Queen” of the New York session scene, her voice was heard behind everyone from Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, James Brown and Joe Cocker to Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Luther Vandross and Diana Ross and on countless memorable commercial jingles. After a series of much-acclaimed albums for CTI Records, she signed with her godfather Quincy Jones’ Qwest label and began achieving mainstream success on an international level thanks to the GRAMMY®-nominated hit “Baby Come To Me,” her now classic duet with James Ingram and the follow-up duet, the Oscar-nominated “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” as well as her appearance on albums with Jones on his best-selling Stuff Like That, his GRAMMY®-winning classic The Dude and later, his From Q With Love Vols. 1 & 2.
The GRAMMY®-nominated For Ella album opened up new doors for Patti as a performer and her embrace by the jazz world was further cemented with her Grammy winning classic CD “Avant Gershwin: Patti’s upcoming 2019 Album offering entitled “Let’s Do It” will surely garner serious Grammy consideration. Now after more than two decades of touring her unique take on the classic American Song Book has expanded Patti’s appeal and garnered standing ovations all over the USA and Europe. Her tour of Australia with the great James Morrison has now secured an ongoing love affair between Patti and Australian music lovers. They will do it all again in 2020, and this time covering all the major cities of Australia.
Continuing to cover all her music bases, her latest critically acclaimed Pop/ R&B release entitled “Sound Advice” will soon yield a sequel “Sound Advice 2” and will further demonstrate her amazing artistic versatility. This versatility has created frequent invitations to conduct master classes for young musicians and demand from elementary schools for performances of her children’s CD entitled “Mighty Musical Fairy Tales”
In 2019, Patti continues her philanthropic work with “The Over My Shoulder Foundation” and keeps up a constant touring schedule that keeps her faithful fans wanting more from this eclectic and always exciting entertainer.