Her musical arms stretch back to Dinah Washington, with whom she made her debut at the Apollo in Harlem.
Since then, Patti Austin has recorded 18 solo albums and topped the charts with "Baby Come to Me" (with James Ingram) and the Oscar-nominated "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"
There's something in the tone of her voice, a rich, woody warmth, that puts the Patti Austin stamp on whatever she sings. And you can't teach someone to phrase the way she does -- it's bred in the bone.
Austin's new album, "Avant Gershwin" is a tour de force: classic Gershwin tunes are given ripping new runs, including a 17-minute "Porgy and Bess Medley" -- who does 17-minute medleys! (She belts the last note of the medley right into next week.)
On "Avant Gershwin" Patti Austin shakes it up, with so much confidence, the world seems like a joyously syncopated place.
written on Monday Apr 16, 2007
swing,
longball,
cd.
