Patti Austin

[Terence Lee]

Patti Austin lost a lot of weight and groomed herself for a brand new CD titled
"Avant Gershwin" (Rendezvous) .

Here are the highlights of a recent interview :

Austin: I guess. I was anointed by an originator, Rosemary Clooney, at an 80th birthday celebration for Lena Horne, speaking of innovators, at Avery Fisher Hall maybe 10 years ago or longer. I was standing in the hallway talking to Rosie, whom I'd known for many years, she was truly my mentor. A lot of people assume Quincy [Jones] was my mentor. Rosie was more my mentor, and Dinah Washington. Quincy is my godfather, so it's kind of a different level of a relationship. Rosie got me involved in this thing she did called "Singers for Songwriters. "

Quite a few years later, Rosie backed me into a corner and said, "I don't want you to ever stop singing the Great American Songbook. You must continue to sing it, because you are the heir apparent." I said, "Well, I'll take that. Can I get it in writing maybe?" She said, "You don't need it in writing, you are it." I said, "What about Natalie Cole?" And she used a very bad word with Natalie's name in reference to it. I said, "You're talking about genetic perfection here, Nat King Cole's daughter! She's no fricking slouch." She said, "Well, you'll be Ella and Sarah. The bottom line is, I'm calling you the heir apparent. Go get it, and don't stop singing this music."

[mariana44]

Patti Austin was one of the may singers who duetted with Johnny Mathis.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

Great advice and compliments to Patti from one of the best female vocalists- Rosemary Clooney