Patti Austin will dazzle at Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival
Patti Austin, Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival’s Artist of the Year for 2016, has been a music industry professional since the age of five. She was a protégé of Dinah Washington and Sammy Davis, Jr., and her 1969 UA single "Family Tree" cracked the R&B Top 50. Austin cut her debut LP, End of a Rainbow, for Creed Taylor's CTI label in 1976, followed by Havana Candy in 1977 and Body Language in 1980. She sang lead vocals for Japanese koto player Yutaka Yokokura on "Love Light" in 1978, did a duet with Michael Jackson on "It's the Falling in Love" for Off the Wall, and sang "The Closer I Get to You" on Tom Browne's album in 1979. Austin duetted with George Benson on Moody's Mood for Love in 1980. She also provided background vocals for sessions by Houston Person, Noel Pointer, Ralph McDonald, Angela Bofill, and Roberta Flack.
In 1981, Austin was featured on "Razzamatazz," one of the hits from Quincy Jones' album, The Dude. Her connection with record producer, conductor, arranger, composer, musician, television producer, film producer, instrumentalist, magazine founder, entertainment company executive, and humanitarian Jones brought her to a solo deal on his Qwest label. Her 1982 album Every Home Should Have One included the number one pop hit "Baby, Come to Me." Jazz aficionados who watch daytime TV might remember the song from the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The follow-up single, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," was the theme for the film Best Friends. Austin was paired with James Ingram on both tunes. She continued recording for Qwest label through the '80s.
Austin switched to Dave Grusin/Larry Rosen’s GRP label in 1990, recording Love Is Gonna Getcha, with breakout singles "Through the Test of Time" and "Good in Love." She subsequently recorded Carry On, and Live, in 1991 and 1992. Street of Dreams followed in 1999 and On the Way to Love appeared in summer 2001. She further engraved her name in music history in 2002 with For Ella, her moving tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
Patti has 19 solo albums to her credit, along with hit performances for the Grammy® Awards and the Oscars. She received a Grammy® Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 2007’s Avant Gershwin, a Top Five hit on the Billboard Jazz Chart.
Patti Austin spent over a decade in the jazz genre, marking her 2011 return to pop with the album Sound Advice. Along with Kim Waters, Brian Simpson and Eric Darius, she appears at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 13 in the Performing Arts Theater at Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes.
