A deeper meaning in her singing

MANILA, Philippines — We all know by now how much Grammy-winning R&B, pop and jazz artist Patti Austin adores the Philippines, which she first visited as a background singer for Roberta Flack in the ’70s, and later as a solo act from the ’80s to the present.

She’s so in love with the country of “happy, loving, kind and gentle people” that she’s now considering buying a property here and making either Makati City or Cebu City her home base in Asia.

“I’m laughing right now because I really, actually was thinking about it,” she disclosed, giggling, during a one-on-one interview with The Philippine STAR at Aruga By Rockwell while promoting her back-to-back Christmas concert with the Philippines’ Soul Diva Jaya held last night at The Theatre at Solaire.

The In My Life and All Behind Us Now songstress said she’s been traveling all over Asia and Down Under lately that it will make a lot of sense if she maintains her “own little place here,” where she has made “tons of buddies” who make her feel loved and at home.

“The Philippines is right in the middle of everything and I can fly to China or Australia or New Zealand much quicker without having to spend 20 hours or more in a plane from the United States,” she pointed out.

Ms. Patti, as she is fondly called by her Pinoy fans, said flying has not only become more expensive these days, it also has become stressful for a woman her age.

“I’m very fortunate to be able to fly business or first class, but it’s still strenuous,” noted the If I Believe and Say You Love Me diva. “Sitting on your butt for hours and hours is not particularly good for your health, and also because you’re breathing a lot of bad air. Then your luggage gets lost, the plane leaves late and you miss your connecting flight.”

“When I get home, we’re gonna crunch some numbers and see what it’s costing me to travel compared to what it would cost me to just have a pied-a-terre here,” she added.

Patti Austin, a Buddhist, said she’s grateful she’s been blessed with the powerful weapon of singing and making music to get people’s attention and inspire them to focus on doing the right thing.

Music crosses every boundary, she said, and one need not understand the lyrics to fathom the soul of a great song.

“I get to use the stage to try to spread some love in the middle of all this craziness the world is going through,” she explained. “This Christmas season, my message to the Filipino people and the rest of the world is to empathize with one another and take care of each other.”

“These days, there’s no more self-examination going on because everybody is looking outward, we’re all looking at our cellphones and checking out what other people are doing,” she added. “We’ve got to get it together. The earth, the energy, the universe, God, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, they’re all trying to tell us in their own way to get it together because we’re all here on earth to be together and not be separated. We’re here to help and love each other and not kill each other.”

“There are people who say I don’t want to live next to those people because I fought my entire life to make enough money not to live next to them,” she firmly said. “But when the earthquake comes, those people could be the same people that will help you out of the crack of the earth.”