“Duke was a giant,” she said. “The music he and Gershwin wrote is just as fresh today as when it was composed. I’m thrilled to perform at the Kennedy Center with a six-piece band and the material we recorded with the same producer of our Gershwin album, Michael Abene.”

Onstage
Patti Austin
» Where: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
» When: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday
» Info: $75; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org
Following the show, guests are invited to the Grand Foyer Party featuring waltzing and swing dancing from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and a big balloon count-down at midnight.
Austin’s distinctive timbre caresses the ear no matter that she is performing as a soloist or singing duets with such top stars as Johnny Mathis, George Benson and James Ingram. Her long relationship with Michael Jackson began with “The Wiz” when she was contracted to book 345 singers and handle all the paper work involved.

“That was before the PC,” she said, laughing. “Michael had very little to say. He just walked around with a paper and pen writing down anything that sounded remotely intelligent. The next time we met was for a project with Quincy Jones. The three of us were sitting in Quincy’s den when the phone rang and Quincy left the room. I’m not one to start conversations, so we both sat quietly. Then all of a sudden Michael began to talk and didn’t stop. We worked together quite a bit after that in the studio and live. His energy was over the moon. This was his renaissance period when he was like a fireball, almost nuclear.”

Austin credits Quincy Jones with stoking her career. Her epiphany came when she and her musician father attended the Newport Jazz Festival as a guest of Jones.

“I was just 13 and not a fan of Judy Garland,” she said. “I admired Ella, Dinah Washington and female black singers who simply walked on stage and sang beyond compare, so when Quincy told me I had to go out front to watch her, I wasn’t happy. At that time in her life, she was a sorry mess and didn’t have a lot of her voice left.

“But what I saw was amazing, one of the top three shows I’ve ever seen. Even without her voice, Judy was still a great actress. There was a screen on stage that she’d go behind to change her outfit and talk about the song she had just sung or the next one. In short, it was all about entertaining the audience. Afterwards, I went backstage with my father just as she was passing. She stopped, looked at me, took my face in her hands and kissed me.”

Austin has never stopped entertaining in her own inimitable style. Directly ahead in 2012 are concerts in Europe, South Africa, Australia and with the Boston Pops along the way. To facilitate her schedule and avoid traveling with an entourage, she has bands in Europe, Asia and on both U.S. coasts. Her upcoming Carnegie Hall concert honoring Ella’s Gershwin Songbook with Nelson Riddle arrangements is an event not to miss.

“Gershwin and Ellington composed music of their time that has endured and is relevant today,” she said. “Ellington left an incredibly intelligent body of work that is still rich at a time when music has been downsized. It’s an honor to be able to sing for another generation his powerful and timeless music that has never lost its gleam or glitter.”

@Paula,patteam

A great way to ring in the New Year! Spend the night swinging the past away and waltzing to new beginnings!

@Paula, patteam

The episode will also be available after its broadcast on the NYC Media – Video On Demand Player. For more information, visit www.profilestvshow.net.

Update: Watch the video right on this page.

As part of Patti’s new role, she will be involved in the 2011 Global Conference for Social Change and Women & Girls Education Summit to be held October 5-6 in New York City.

About the Foundation for Social Change
The Foundation works with corporations and NGOs around the world to create programs that define how doing good is good for business. It is not charity. It is not philanthropy. It is not impact investing. It is just doing the right thing. The organization proves that there is a bottom-line financial impact to solving problems. One example of this is through “eLife” – Economic Opportunity for Women & Girls education program teaching life and business skills.

As seen on www.nbclosangeles.com.

Don’t have a Google+ account yet? Click this invite

You can sign up for the Google Plus Live Concert below. The concert date is September 9th.

Tavis asked me primarily about my new “Sound Advice” CD, how I handled the challenges of reinventing myself, how I chose the material for the CD. It’s not that other interviewers had not asked similar questions. It’s all about how Tavis asks the questions. I actually learned more stuff about myself. Thanks Tavis!

Check out the interview with Tavis and me and let me know if you feel what I mean! – Patti