20 minutes with Patti Austin on the phone

Patti Austin has become "one of us" not only because she has been here before but also, as she admitted, "I love performing in the Philippines," looking forward to her concert Heart to Heart with James Ingram on Feb. 14 at the CCP Open Grounds (beside PICC).

Funfare was granted a 20-minute phone interview with Patti over the weekend. She was in San Diego, California. Here are excerpts:

Have you always liked singing love songs?

"I love singing great music – and sometimes that would be love songs and sometimes not...."

So what makes for great music?

"Oh, my answer would be based on my whole experience as a musician – and it wouldn’t be the same as for other people. Most people would go for music that moves them, or makes them happy, or creates an emotion. As a musician, I would be looking for great melodies, great rhythms."

That would make you hard to please — what are you working on now?

(Laughs) "Well, lately I’ve fallen into – and that’s partly because I’ve had so much great success with it –the older songs. You know, I released that tribute to Ella Fitzgerald album and that has been met with a wonderful, wonderful response. 60 Minutes here in the United States did a whole feature on me and the album sales have gone through the roof and my career has gone ballistic!"

That’s fantastic – is Ella Fitzgerald your favorite singer? Why did you choose her and not, say Billie Holiday?

"Ella Fitzgerald has always been my favorite. She’s a brilliant technician vocally and her voice has just got this beautiful texture, that voice is something that was definitely a gift, a gift from God. I mean she was a brilliant scatter, an amazing ballad singer. It’s all there."

What would be your favorite Ella Fitzgerald song from that album?

"Now that’s a tough one! We started with 60 tunes for the album and then ran through them, picking the 14 to 15 songs that finally ended up on the album, so it would be hard to pick just one from those."

Was it difficult to record?

"Oh no! To be totally honest, it was fun! We were working with a keyboard player who had worked with Ella and her drummer for the last five years, so everything just came together beautifully. We definitely felt her presence in the room while we were recording. And we got it all done in just one day!"

Baby Come To Me is still one of your biggest songs and it is so well-loved in Manila. Tell us more about it.

"It was written by Rod Templeton – who incidentally wrote some of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits – and I’ve never tired of singing it since I recorded it in 1983. And that to me, is the mark of a great song, since I never get tired of singing it even after all this time."

Yes, your fans are looking forward to your doing that duet with James Ingram at the upcoming Valentine’s Day concert.

"So am I! It’s not always that I get to do the duet with James because he’s always busy and so am I. So I am really looking forward to the concert."

James mentioned that he caught you in a play in Los Angeles recently?

"Yes, it was called Like Jazz and we had a two-month run. It just closed last week."

And now you’re doing some work with Hong Kong artists?

"Well, since I moved to San Francisco I became very close to a Chinese lady who works on radio and we got to talking how to create an exchange between cultures – and one of the ways to do it is music. So I did a series of concerts singing Cantonese music and they even flew in Frances Yip to sing in the concert. And now I’m working on an album with the Hong Kong Symphony."

They say it will be the Chinese millennium in the 21st century.

"I can agree with that....so much of their culture makes so much sense. And even before I moved to San Francisco I have been an advocate of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Their culture is magnificent! In San Francisco, you can’t help but to know more about the Chinese – and I could say the same about Filipinos."

What else are you working on now?

"I’m now working on a tribute album to Gershwin, so it’s not totally in the mainstream but I think it will be great. I’m looking at the maybe hidden, more obscure songs by Gershwin and it would be great to do a whole series on the great American songwriters. I’m also going into rehearsals for another play and then tape a TV pilot."

With all the things you’re doing, which do you like best?

"That’s like comparing apples to oranges, you get a different vibe from theater as you do from TV — but I would have to say that live performances are number 1 on my hit parade."

And when you have a free day, what are you up to?

"Watch a movie, cook a little, nothing special, just normal-people stuff."

What’s on your CD changer?

"I’m listening to an old recording of mine, the Soulful Messiah. I lost my copy and somebody was kind enough to give me one...but I’m also listening to Stravinsky, Dixie Chicks and Outkast. Gosh! I listen to everything!"

I’m going to ask you some personal questions now – what is a romantic evening for Patti Austin?

"Oh, Lord, what is that? (laughs) Well, a romantic evening would be a quiet evening!"

And what would be the perfect Valentine’s gift? Something that would soften you up and put a tear in your eye?

"At the moment, after spending the last three years on the road – I have never traveled so much in my entire life – that would be a Citation 10, which is the fastest private jet in the world! I’ve just come from Japan and last week I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, and tomorrow I’m off to Mexico, and then I’m going to record something for the Grammys – so I’m definitely looking for the man who’s going to give me that jet for Valentine’s!"

(Note: For tickets to Heart to Heart, call Ticketnet at 911-5555 or Icon Productions at 373-5734. Prices are P1,932 and P1,305 for reserved seats and P783 and P366 for regular seats, inclusive of the 4.4 percent Ticketnet service charge.)

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