Customer Reviews

Avant Gershwin (Dig)

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Over the last decade, Patti Austin has gone back to her jazz roots, singing tunes from the Great American Songbook. Her 2002 CD, "For Ella", a tribute to the great Ella Fitzgerald, received a Grammy nomination. And on her latest album, "Avant Gershwin", she belts it out Broadway style, interpreting the music of George and Ira Gershwin.
The silken voiced diva has released a fine collection of some of the most celebrated and loved Broadway jazzy tracks, to which she brings her very special vocal magic, originally recorded by some male jazz legends.
This album is a work of great depth.
Her voice illuminates every song. Even though we have heard the same tunes sung to us so many times...Her heart is felt in every note as she soars to the highs of the heavens and smoothly flows to the lows.
Anyone with Patti Austin' s great voice and the support of a record label could easily have recorded an album of straightforward George Gershwin covers and called it a day, but Austin is not one to play it safe.
On "Avant Gershwin" she reshapes and reconfigures the old standards in exciting new ways.
She also makes a bold statement with the "Porgy & Bess Medley" by selecting all songs sung by male characters save the classic "Summertime".
To hear Patti deliver on Jake's put down "A Woman Is a Sometime Thing" or Sportin' Life's sly "There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York" forces the listener to reconsider the more submissive roles assigned to Bess and the other female characters.
Her sultry turn on "Love Walked In", with minimal piano accompaniment, uncovers an almost angst-filled facet to the song.
With expert backing by the WDR Big Band of Cologne (Germany), led by Michael Abene, she swings" Lady Be Good", "Swanee", and "Who Cares" as hard-bop numbers, replete with inspired scatting.

"When you look at the body of work from the Gershwins, it is kind of frightening. It is like they were sent by God to drop off a package and send them back in another two hundred years to do something magnificent. We just scratched the surface of their body of work, and isn't that fascinating?" ~ Patti Austin, All About Jazz ~

Recorded live and released in March of 2007, "Avant Gershwin," won the "Best Vocal Jazz Album" at the recent 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Congratulations to Patti Austin and everyone involved in this great CD for a well-deserved recognition. I am a long-time fan of George and Ira Gershwin's music and lyrics and who could do more than justice to their ingenious works than a fine jazz singer and also one of my all-time favorites, Patti Austin? I've been a long-time fan since the early eighties and have collected some of her best recordings most notably her collaborations with George Benson, James Ingram, Bob James and Quincy Jones.

This is a great tribute to the exceptional songwriting and composing talents of the Gershwin Brothers. Some of their well-loved gems are featured in this CD starting off with "Overture/Gershwin Medley," a Grammy-nominated-track for the "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist," down to "Lady Be Good." For someone who has been singing since age five, Patti Austin made her renditions more special with her wealth of experience in jazz singing and scatting. She brings freshness of style to these time-tested standards thereby making this album as one of the best Gershwin tributes ever recorded. The beautiful chart arrangements by Michael Abene and excellent musicianship of WDR Big Band (same band who backed her on for Ella) are contributing factors that made this album worthy of a Grammy nomination and the much-coveted award. Each song is taken to a higher level of appreciation for she has the ability to turn a timeless standard into a remarkably impressive gem of a song with a new twist. I'm sure the Gershwins in Heaven must be beaming with joy!

My choice cuts include a medley of "Love Walked In/Love Is Sweeping The Country" and a less-famous and seldom-recorded song but is surely a beauty, "Who Cares?" I first heard it from Kate Smith on one of my late father's collection of records. Tony Bennett also recorded it with Ralph Sharon Trio on Essential George Gershwin and ditto with Michael Feinstein on Nice Work If You Can Get It: Songs by the Gershwins. Her smooth take on "Summertime," one of the songs from "Porgy And Bess Medley," is simply gorgeous.

This Grammy-winning CD in its entirety is a sheer beauty and pure perfection. I wholeheartedly recommend it for a lovely listening experience.

This CD blew me away. Patti's swinging, loving, and fresh interpretations of these songs forced me to jump out of my seat and cheer. The Cologne based WDR Big Band (featuring Frank Chastenier on piano, John Goldsby on bass, and Hans Dekker on drums) swings just as hard as Patti. Michael Abene's charts groove like crazy. Gold star for you, Ms. Austin. Five of them, in fact--big, sparkling, Grammy-shaped stars that light up the sky.

Robin Goldsby is the author of Piano Girl: A Memoir, and is the solo piano artist featured on Songs from the Castle and Twilight.

Patti Austin sounds renewed in this superb and stellar collection of Gershwin classics...a stunning collection of magnificent performances find this great singer at the top of her game with arrangements to match the greatness of tremendous vocals throughout...a brilliantly sung opening medley of Gershwin standards make it clear from the top that this is going to be a superb musical treat for fans of George Gershwin's incredible music which is beyond compare and the beauty, magnificence, and pathos of his glorious compositions are all here to be fully experienced and appreciated in complete grandeur! A magnificent musical feast and thank you Patti Austin for this wondrous and magical tour-de-force...a timeless and priceless collection and once again a complete classic!!! I see Grammy Awards ahead...
Update; Bravo Patti Austin for your Grammy Award win for Best Vocal Jazz Album...this was what I expected when I first listened to these sublime vocals which are a real treat to enjoy over and over for any Gershwin fan!!!

This is a change of pace for Ms. Austin, but she's at least as good here as on her more intimate stuff. If you appreciate the genre - big band plus belt 'em out singer - this is about as good as it gets. Great material, great arrangements, great band, great singer, great recording. I really can't think of a way of improving this album.

A performer for over thirty years, Patti Austin has done it all: pop, R & B, a little gospel, standards, and even a highly sought after jingle singer. It wasn't until 2002's Grammy-worthy "For Ella" that it appeared that the singer was now getting recognition for her singular vocal style as she paid tribute on that album to one of jazz's greats, Ella Fitzgerald.

Now, five years later, Austin takes on the music of the Ira and George Gershwin, who along with Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, were possibly the greatest songwriters of all time, not just the twentieth century. Backed by a full band and recorded live last year in Germany, Austin lets it all out as she interprets songs that will stand the test of time long after the current chart-toppers have turned to dust.

Austin's vocal instrument is so flexible that she is able to be poignant yet sassy, seductive yet saintly, trashy yet classy, and provocative yet conservative.

She can do it all and really pours it on thick with the opening twelve-minute long "Gershwin Medley" and the equally impressive "Porgy and Bess Medley." Even the remaining songs are lustrous and provide a venue for one of the great songstresses of the last and this century.

Austin is just hitting her prime and, besides her singing, she has a new look, having shed some pounds and getting a makeover.

When one looks at the singer, glamorously decked out and coiffed on the back cover, one can only exclaim, "D**N! She looks just as good as she sounds."

Given that it's Patti Austin it's not unfair to expect a lot. Unfortunately, she misses the mark here. As expected there is nothing technically wrong with the album, it's just that the arrangements are lackluster, and the song pairings don't really work.

Incredible voice though.

As an avid fan of Miss Patti - I've had this cd for a couple months now and have been listening to it over and over again! From the first track to the last note - this is a pure jazz vocal cd that EVERYONE can enjoy and should have in their collection - even if you're not familiar with jazz (shame on you) - I encourage you to buy this cd as well as Patti's ELLA cd and learn what fans like myself have known for years - this woman is he new queen of live jazz Divas.

My hat off to you Miss Patti for another stunning creation - can't wait to see you on tour this year in support of another crowning achievement in your wonderful career! LOVE YA!

TRACKS:
1.Overture/Gershwin Medley
2.I'll Build A Stairway To Paradise
3.Who Cares
4.Funny Face
5.Love Walked In/Love Is Sweeping The Country
6.Swanee
7.Porgy and Bess Medley
8.Lady Be Good.

This CD has the proper title. Ms. Austin sings like these songs have not been sung before with vigor and vitality. She is to be commended for such a project. I asked my significant other to listen to the CD and I can't get it back. I can't wait for Ms. Auatin's next project. Applause!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!