Sep 16 2007
Patti Austin * Talented, Smoooooth
Knew the voice, but didn’t recognize the tiny woman singing.
I was watching a TV special devoted to Ella Fitzgerald and I was listening to Patti Austin!
She lost an enormous amount of weight, but, thankfully, she didn’t lose her voice and was great as usual. She started singing at age 4 and had both Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington (one of my mom’s favorites: “What a difference a day makes. 24 little hours…”) for Godparents. She has good genes.
Ms. Austin knows how to interpret a lyric. Whether jazz, pop or old standards, she doesn’t just sing a pretty tune, but tells a story and makes the listener care. She is still marvelous.
Some recent albums:
2001: On The Way To Love
2002: For Ella
2007: Avant Gershwin
