"If you are going to be an artist, you cannot expect to be understood...so, be who you are and let the chips fall where they may." - Patti Austin, 2011
Patti Austin "Sound Advice"Were you anticipating vocalist Patti Austin delving deeper into the classical jazz world for her latest musical project? Well, I believe that you are going to be surprised by what she is offering this time around.
Are you a jazz snob? You're probably not going to appreciate this new song set because there isn't any "classical jazz" (the Ella, Duke Ellington, Count Basie vibe) in it.
This is Soul, R&B and Pop with a dose of gospel flavor thrown in. If you are a cross-genre music lover, however, this latest project should pique your interest and, ultimately, you may find it very much to your liking.
Shanachie Entertainment has the honor of releasing Sound Advice which is Ms. Austin's eighteenth album. This album is meant for, per Patti, "the segment of her wide-ranging audience who first became aware of her in the 1980s through songs like Baby Come To Me [a chart-topping duet with James Ingram and the theme song of the prom that I attended 
]."
Sound Advice was intentionally designed to "keep production and arrangements as simple as the material would allow."
I agree with that. The renditions of Frank Sinatra's My Way and Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence are spare and I like her spin on familiar songs.
Patti Austin shares the motivation behind the album title: "All the tunes are giving some sort of advice, whether introspectively or directly and I figure that I'm old enough where I should be able to give advice of some sort!"
Her thoughts on the Mick Jagger|Keith Richards penned song You Can't Always Get What You Want:
"My generation grew up with this 'you can have it all' idea and it's a crock and we were wishing out loud. The truth is, something has to be sacrificed and you always get what you need...even if it's not always what you like..."
Here is the track listing to give you an idea of the range of song writers she used as inspiration:
- You Gotta Be - composed by Des'ree Weekes and Ashley Ingram
- By The Grace of God - self-penned by Patti Austin
- Round and Round - Patti Austin and Greg Phillinganes
- You Can't Always Get What You Want - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
- Let 'Em In - Paul and Linda McCartney
- Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan
- Vincent - Don McLean
- A Little Bit of Love - Brenda Russell
- Lean On Me - Bill Withers
- Give It Up - Michael Jackson and Randy Jackson
- My Way - Paul Anka, Claude Francois, Jacques Abel Jules Revaud & Gilles Thimbaut
- Enjoy The Silence - Martin Lee Gore
The following video is from a 2010 birthday bash for her godfather, Quincy Jones. She performed Bill Withers' Lean On Me:
Patti is thoughtful on social or global issues here - her own composition By The Grace of God has been adopted as a musical theme by The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
The Paul McCartney tune Let 'Em In was picked because it represents an issue here in the US ("The issue of immigration which is the basis of our country and is what has made the country as great as it is so it's time to stop the nonsense, the isolationist mentality and embrace everyone," says Ms. Austin.).
Is a Patti Austin fan from the 80s going to like this album? For that matter, how will the newer fans that only know her as a jazz singer embrace this new music? You know as music lovers, we are sometimes finicky about what we "like". :)
If you get a chance to hear snippets of the album or you purchase it, share with me what you liked and maybe didn't like about it. Thanks!
Donna