Patti Austin Live

Patti Austin Live!

Some day of years back, an enthusiastic elderly audiophile brought a self-compiled test CD to shoot out in my setup or intrinsically he came with an intention to shoot down my setup instead. I could still recall very clearly that he asked to play back Track7.

But hey... It kicked off with just some modest and simple digital piano notes, it sounded not a familiar tune to my ears until many seconds went by and yes, I got the clue: It Might Be You!

This was my favorite piece which my elder cousins used to spin but the original rendition of Stephen Bishop was in fact a very gently presented love song version. Whilst Patti's version in this album is much a jazz or "pub version", I guess. Check out the ferocious drum beats therein, you will know what I mean then.

Being musically inquisitive, certainly did I dig out more about Patti Austin subsequent to the shoot out/down and soon I have found one of her live albums i.e. Patti Austin - Live!!! This album came under the label of GRP and Dave Grusin was one of the Executive Producers. When Dave had his sleeves rolled up for this, need I say more about the genre?

Patti is a US-born R&B and jazz singer gifted with infectious vocal, apparently she has been brought to the limelight around the time of Baby, Come To Me which is a duet with James Ingram alas me ignorant about it till I have come to know Patti few years ago. Anyway let us be honest to tell what we don't know and more so about what we didn't know after all we will never have learnt enough huh!

From Track 1 to Track 3, Patti projects seriousness in her music presentation but after which, in Track 4, oh my God, she starts to talk and men, what a comedian she truly is!!! Patti breaks out with her 1st comedic session of talk show when she mentions numerous reknown artists e.g. James Ingram, Michael Mac Donald, Michael Jackson etc. With friendly sarcasm, she jokingly criticizes their distinct vocal affectations and certainly she mimics them too and wins thunderous laughter.

Track 4 is very lengthy but equally entertaining to say the least. After almost 9 minutes of talk show, oh my God again, Patti asks if she has digressed ha... Besides being a great singer, Patti is indeed a talented comedian!!!

Then immediately following which, Patti "switches mode" back to her serious business again allowing me to audition Baby, Come to Me (Track 5) for the very 1st time, not with James Ingram though she duets with Shelton Becton who is the music director of this album. Not with the original duet partner yet it is just as fantastic duet expressed with good sense of unspoken understanding between them.

Besides other good songs, there is another highly commendable comedic talk show found in Track10. This appears much more entertaining with some sing-along shots deliberately terminated with anticlimax and anti-climax, jokes, mimics etc informal bits to add to joy. The palpable images and soundstaging, the highly dynamic laughter of audience, the well recorded ambience together with hand claps which come with strong sense of "fleshy palms" may just help to showcase any good music setup with pride! With little vulgar and erotic contents, more laughter earned to add much to the liveliness of this live music event.

In short Patti Austin Live! is a very entertaining live music album as Patti sings absolute well, she mingles very well with the audience and wins full attention and participation from the floor. This is essentially one of the most joyfully participative concerts. Even though we could be just audience of the playback, audience satisfaction guaranteed!

Patti Austin Live!

Author: Heart Hear The Art!

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