Customer Reviews

Real Me

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have often thought that Patti Austin was my own personal treasure, the misguided attempts of record companies to package her as a R&B sexpot or Disco Diva were so wrong. She is a Singer and all she needs is a song and an arrangement and she soars!Well she also can handle songs as divergent as the Zydeco tinged "Across the Alley from the Alamo" with its toe tapping infectious fun to Standards like "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and the very difficult "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most". I listen to this CD over and over and buy it for my friends. I highly recommend it to lovers of music of any genre. She is a treasure!

Anyone who has given this album less than five stars has, in my opinion, suspect judgement. I don't want to start fueds, but, seriously, this is my favorite album and has been since I first obtained it (release date circa 1988). There is nothing "forgettable" here. It's all total enjoyment. If you haven't heard this album -- do! If you don't own it -- get it! "Cook" along with Ms. Patti!

As with other reviewers, I first bought this on vinyl (when it was released). I had other albums by Patti Austin, but this allowed me to "hear her" in the songs she loved best. You can't ignore the arrangements, the musicians (anyone who was a lover of liner notes would have recognized the names)...and the special guests! Listening to Patti Austin makes one appreciate the human voice -without electronics behind it.

I owned this vinyl copy of this album. i thought it was great then and it is awesome now. The sound is crisp and there are 2 additional songs on the "cd" version of this project. (How Long has this been going on and the last cut)

Highlights are "Someone Is Standing Outside" "I Can Cook" "Lazy Afternoon" "They Can't Take That Away From me" which incidentally, has a great twist on it....its jazzy and Patti is in fine voice!!!!!

Great CD for your collection. Ms. Austin is underrated as a singer.....this project proves that the girl can sinnnnnggggg!!

Patti Austin is a singer's singer and this is one of her finest recordings. The title "Diva" has become very popular of late and, IMO, has been bestowed carelessly on many less deserving singers. Patti Austin is a "Diva" in the most positive interpretation of that term - a consummate vocal artist, deserving of admiration from her fans and fellow vocalists.

Every track on this album is wonderful, but a few deserve special mention. Her rendition of "Smoke Get's In Your Eyes" is a vocal classic. Her version of "Lazy Afternoon" is one of my personal favorites - it is by far the best I've heard (and this song has been recorded by MANY artists). Both the arrangement and Patti's performance convey the languid, sensual tone of the song better than any of the other versions I have heard.

If you enjoy true vocal artistry, you need to add some "Patti Austin" to your collection. And if you were to pick one album to start with, this is the one.

Patti Austin, one of the best female vocalists of our time, will beguile your ears with this well-produced CD. How can you not love this CD when she is surrounded by a line-up of great musicians: David Benoit (keyboards/arranger), whom I've watched in a live concert years ago and I was simply impressed with his artistry, Earl Klugh (guitar), Michael Brecker (sax), Michael McDonald (vocals/piano), Paulinho da Costa (percussion), David Pack (vocals/arranger/producer), Marty Paich (arranger), James Ingram and Luther Vandross (vocals), among others.

The stellar music offerings include my all-time favorite standards arranged and performed in mesmerizing smooth jazz style. Ms. Austin will fill your heart with a sense of nostalgia as she sings the most beautiful female vocal versions of Jerome Kern/Otto Harbach's "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," George and Ira Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and Duke Ellington, Irving Mills and Albany Digard's "Mood Indigo." These I believe are the highlights of this remarkable recording.

She will also delight you with her charming interpretations of time-tested classics such as Cole Porter's "True Love," a remarkable duet with David Pack, Edward Heyman/Victor Young's "Love Letters," John Latouche/Jerome Moross' "Lazy Afternoon" and George and Ira Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me."

Arthur Hamilton's "Cry Me A River" is heartfelt and sincerely executed and features Jon Faddis on a lovely trumpet solo. Patti Austin and David Benoit share the honor in the superb arrangement while Marty Paich is credited as Strings arranger and conductor. This is one of the most sublime interpretations and her inspirational source is derived from Julie London's version from the album "Julie Is Her Name."

"Well, you can cry me a river
Cry me a river
Cause I cried a river over you."

If you love the smooth sound of jazz and appreciate standards as well, then this recording will satisfy your auditory sense to the fullest.

Wholeheartedly recommended.

This is an exceptional recording which I too, purchased originally on LP. Patti Austin's vocals are very jazzy, full and make every song an absolute joy to listen to. Lazy Afternoon is breathtakingly good, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is beautifully done and the list goes on. One of my other favorites is "You Can't Take That Away from Me", which is jazzy, clean and smartly arranged.

The old standards are very difficult for just any vocalist to sing. The standards are real music with full composition and intricate vocals and almost all of the songs from this time period (50s, 60s) are from a time when music was truly at it's best....in terms of musicianship, skill and natural talent.

The band is awesome and Patti can just SING....

Like Natalie Cole, Patti's voice was meant to sing the old standards and it is worth double the money to own this one....

Patti Austin never ceases to amaze. I've been a fan since the early '80s when I first heard "Baby Come To Me" from the soap opera "General Hospital". I have almost all her recordings during her reign at Qwest Records when she was still under the tutelage of Quincy 'Q' Jones. I think after she left Qwest and went to the GRP label, she began to experiment more in the realm of Jazz, but I don't think the results were as good as her Qwest recordings.

"The Real Me" title says it all here.....it IS the REAL Patti. She sound SO comfortable singing these songs, it fits her like a glove. I truly believe she was BORN to sing old standards like the ones chosen here. There are a few minor very odd selections, like "Across the Alley...Alamo" and "I Can Cook Too", but fortunately those are the only two casualties I can think of. The rest of the tracks are well chosen and just absolutely SUPERBLY sung.

I don't think ANYONE can touch Patti's version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". The arrangements, tempo, and the FEEL Patti puts into this song is remarkable, just totally blows you away. With all due respect to The Platters, who had their biggest hit in 1958 with "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", Patti's version blows theirs out of the water (sorry). Other tracks such as "How Long....Been Going On" "True Love" and "Mood Indigo" are so well sung, it just leaves goose bumps every time I hear them, but for me, the track "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is still THE TICKET to this essential CD for Patti Fans out there. Also, the production and arrangements are great on "The Real Me", done with just enough pizazz, but never getting in the way of Patti's vocals.

I am glad to learn that Patti Austin FINALLY won a long overdue Grammy Award early this February 2008 for her 2007 recording of Gershwin standards. She actually should have won the Grammy in 2003 for her "Ella Fitzgerald Tribute - for Ella" CD (another must-own CD for Patti fans), but that award went to the overpraised and overrated Dianne Reeves instead. I just hope Patti Austin never stops singing standards while she's making CD's because it just fits her hand in glove. I know as an artist she has to expand her repertoire and range, but hope she never strays from her jazz roots and talent for singing those standards. Keep 'em coming, Patti !

Patti did a 180 right after she did Gettin' Away With Murder (which had The Heat of Heat and If I Believed and Summer Is The Coldest Time Of Year). At first I thought it was a bad career move...

Until I listened to it. All I wanted was for Patti to be happy and if this made her so then I was too. I am a Patti Austin fan no matter what she does.

If you enjoy listening to Patti Austin. The Real Me is the album that you should get. I enjoyed listing to her version of cry me a river and lazy Afternoon. The rest of songs are also great to listen to. The album has a swing touch to it. It's a album that patti austin's fans should get.