On the Way to Love

Patti Austin

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 26, 2001)
• Original Release Date: June 26, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Qwest / Wea
• ASIN: B00005LDYE
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #300,423 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Girlfriend

2. What Can I Say?

3. On the Way to Love

4. Love's Been Kind to Me Lately

5. Make It Right

6. If You Really Need Me Now - Patti Austin, Boney James,

7. Playin' Around

8. Let Me Be Me

9. Southern Rain

10. Tell Me Why

11. Love's Been Kind to Me Lately [Unplugged Version]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Paul Brown's mafia of smooth-jazz writers and musicians gives Patti Austin's career a boost with this R&B and pop-oriented disc. The songs are well-crafted gems that extol the virtues of love and female solidarity and they suit Austin's crystal-clear tone and sharp phrasing quite well. The opening track, "Girlfriend," cowritten by Brown and Austin, is an upbeat ditty that sounds like a theme from a morning TV talk show. It is indicative of the rest of the album, in that Austin makes it sound as she has lived the tune. Like an actress appearing in different films, the singer delivers with conviction on each song. When Brown touches on the funk side of R&B as a producer (as he did on Al Jarreau's Tomorrow Today), the results seem less sanitized than when he works with instrumentalists, evidenced here on the hot numbers, "Make It Right" and "Playing Around." The producer obviously sees Austin's musical place as being in the adult contemporary pop world, because it would be a stretch to call most of these 11 hook-laden tracks smooth jazz. --Mark Ruffin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "What Can I Say?...", March 5, 2002

By	L. Kelsey "lkelsey" (Riverside, CA. United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked this album a lot. I find it a return to the R&B/Pop world that Patti explored in the '80's with such albums as "Every Home Should Have One," "Gettin' Away With Murder," and the self-titled "Patti Austin." Patti sounds very soulful on "If You Really Need Me," "Let Me Be Me," "Tell Me Why" and "Southern Rain." "Girlfriend" is a tune you hum later after you hear it, singing the refrain, "got your back covered." My favorite song though is "What Can I Say," a sunny day, top down on the ride jam about a love that kinda catches one off guard. I love Patti's voice, period, so I've bought most of her CD's over the years. She seemed to be exploring her jazz roots on such CD's as "In and Out of Love" and "Street of Dreams," and they were very good, but nothing that grabbed me like this one did. So when I'm feeling a little down, I pop this in the player and get carried away and a little happier. And with the world being what it is today, I like being "ON THE WAY TO THAT FEELING" of joy that I get when I listen to this CD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A WELCOME RETURN WITH A WINNER, July 7, 2001

By	Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

After years of floundering semi-successfully, Patti Austin has come back with a nice blend of soul, jazz, and pop. Austin shows a depth that is missing today in the overabundance of carbon copy-sounding ingenues. The eleven tracks strongly showcase the vocal prowess of the under-appreciated Austin. Strong cuts are "Girlfriend," "Love's Been Kind to Me Lately," and "Playin' Around." Prior to purchasing this CD, I had read the Austin returned to Quincy Jones' guidance. My information was incorrect, but producer Paul Brown surrounds Austin with talented assemblage of musicians (James Ingram, Siedah Garrett, Boney James, and others). While not as satisfying as the Q-produced recordings, this is still the work of an accomplished vocalist.

Hopefully, sufficient airplay will be given and the singer will ascend to the ranks of superstardom that she so richly deserves.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You Best Be Careful......, July 14, 2001

By	Jazzman98 (Musicland, California United States) - See all my reviews

Because this CD is NOT a Quincy Jones produced effort. The only thing it shares is the label and some of the guest artists. It is a disappointment in that Patti has a great voice -- however, it is mismatched with the same producer (Paul Brown) that worked with pop-jazz artists like Al Jarreau, Boney James, and Norman Brown -- and as a result, it spends waaay too much time trying to be "radio friendly"! The fact that Boney James plays on one cut (uninspired, I might add) does not make it better.

Overall, this disc is nowhere near the status or quality of a classic like "The Real Me" or her early "Quincy produced" Warner Bros. efforts. In fact, it attempts to "contemporize" her sound at the expense of mediocre material.

I guess I expect too much from my Divas.......