Patti Austin stands out as a Grammy-winning vocalist celebrated for her vibrant jazz and R&B catalog. Performing professionally from early childhood, she issued multiple soul-jazz projects during the 1970s and later achieved broad recognition through the 1982 chart-topping duet “Baby, Come to Me” with Roger Ingram, drawn from the Quincy Jones-produced Every Home Should Have One. Beyond her mainstream pop achievements, Austin has placed numerous releases in the upper reaches of the Billboard 200 Jazz Albums chart, among them 1988’s The Real Me, 1990’s Love Is Gonna Getcha, and 1994’s The Secret Place. She honored one of her key influences, Ella Fitzgerald, with 2003’s For Ella and earned Grammy Awards for the 2007 big-band collection Avant Gershwin as well as 2015’s Home Suite Home alongside the Patrick Williams big band. Fitzgerald remained a touchstone in the later projects Ella & Louis from 2017 and the 2023 Grammy-nominated For Ella 2.
Born in Harlem, New York, in 1950, Austin was raised in a musically inclined household as the daughter of a jazz trombonist. A professional singer by age five, she benefited from mentorship by Dinah Washington and Sammy Davis, Jr. Her 1969 United Artists single “Family Tree” reached the R&B Top 50. Austin made her first album, End of a Rainbow, for Creed Taylor’s CTI imprint in 1976, then followed with Havana Candy in 1977 and Body Language in 1980. She supplied lead vocals for Japanese koto player Yutaka Yokokura on “Love Light” in 1978, joined Michael Jackson for the duet “It’s the Falling in Love” on Off the Wall, and performed “The Closer I Get to You” on Tom Browne’s 1979 release. In 1980 she paired with George Benson on “Moody’s Mood for Love.” Background vocals by Austin appeared on sessions for Houston Person, Noel Pointer, Ralph McDonald, Angela Bofill, and Roberta Flack.
She contributed vocals to Quincy Jones’ 1981 album The Dude, notably on the hit track “Razzamatazz.” Signing a solo contract with Jones’ Qwest label, Austin released Every Home Should Have One in 1982, which contained the number-one pop and number-nine R&B single “Baby, Come to Me,” widely aired through the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Its successor, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” served as the theme for the film Best Friends; both songs featured James Ingram. Remaining with Qwest through the decade, she issued the self-titled Patti Austin in 1980, Gettin’ Away with Murder in 1985, and 1988’s The Real Me, which climbed to number seven on Billboard’s Jazz chart.
Moving to GRP in 1990, Austin recorded Love Is Gonna Getcha, whose singles “Through the Test of Time” and “Good in Love” helped the album reach number four on the Jazz Albums chart. Additional Top 20 Jazz-charting releases followed, including 1991’s Carry On, 1991’s Live, and 1994’s Lee Ritenour-produced That Secret Place. She later joined Concord for 1998’s In & Out of Love and issued Street of Dreams in 1999.
Returning to the Top 30 of the Jazz Albums chart in 2001 with On the Way to Love, Austin rejoined Quincy Jones’ Warner Bros.-distributed Qwest roster and reunited for another duet with James Ingram. Her affectionate tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, For Ella, surfaced in spring 2002 and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Avant Gershwin, a 2007 big-band album of George Gershwin material, reached number five on the Jazz Albums chart and captured the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
After focusing primarily on jazz for ten years, Austin leaned toward pop with 2011’s Sound Advice, produced by Greg Phillinganes and featuring covers of songs by Des’ree, the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, and additional artists.
In 2015 Austin appeared on Patrick Williams’ big-band album Home Suite Home; her rendition of “52nd & Broadway” earned the Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. She joined author Tara Meyer in 2016 on the children’s book and soundtrack Mighty Musical Fairy Tales. The following year she revisited her Ella Fitzgerald affinity with Ella & Louis, recorded alongside trumpeter, trombonist, pianist, and bandleader James Morrison, his quintet, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Benjamin Northey. A further Fitzgerald-themed set, For Ella 2, emerged in 2023 with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Album.
