Patti Davila

PATTI DAVILA Biography You’re checking out the band. As the vast shipboard music hall fills with revelers, the band launches into its first number. You find yourself fixated on the svelte and sultry singer with the silky smooth voice who hits such mercurial tonal targets as lush Norah Jones ballads, hard rocking Janis Joplin tunes, Sister Sledge disco hits and oldies favorites by Connie Francis. When she launches into the Evita show tune “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina,” it’s with a nod toward...

PATTI DAVILA Biography You’re checking out the band. As the vast shipboard music hall fills with revelers, the band launches into its first number. You find yourself fixated on the svelte and sultry singer with the silky smooth voice who hits such mercurial tonal targets as lush Norah Jones ballads, hard rocking Janis Joplin tunes, Sister Sledge disco hits and oldies favorites by Connie Francis. When she launches into the Evita show tune “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina,” it’s with a nod toward her Latin American roots. Petite in stature but majestic in lung power, Patti Tateo was born in Buenos Aires and emigrated with her family to New York City when she was a child. A musician at a young age, Patti became an accomplished flautist. By high school, she was stage struck, cast as the lead in plays when she wasn’t performing as part of the orchestra. But singing didn’t emerge until her teens. “The big turning point for me,” she says in a voice as creamy as cappuccino, “was when I’d harmonize with every song that came on the radio. I’d always do a third up from the melody and my brother would say, ‘How do you do that?’” She shrugs, “I just thought everyone could do that.” When it dawned on her that her gift to climb the scales vocally was a natural one, she began paying more attention to other chanteuses of the day. “I remember watching the Olivia Newton John show and seeing her in spandex pants in Grease. And the first time I heard ‘Heartbreaker,’ by Pat Benatar, I couldn’t believe someone could rock and sing opera in the same voice. Or Ann Wilson, from Heart…just to hear women that were so pretty and had such angelic voices and could rock so hard and so gritty…those were the voices. And I wanted to do that.” Determined to follow her inclination, Patti undertook music studies at NYU, where she earned a B.S. in Music and Business, which led to several jobs within the music industry. Most impressively, she became a marketing assistant and convention director for industry heavyweight Concrete. The experience enabled her to create a comfortable working relationship with managers, directors and executives of record labels and radio stations, particularly in the rock genre. By night, however, she was performing in all the major New York clubs of the day – The Bottom Line, the original Cat Club and the Limelight. Balancing her industry duties with her passion for performance, she did session work and showcases for numerous luminaries, and sang back-up for singer-turned-screenwriter Kario Salem (“The Rat Pack,” “Divas”) and MCA’s pop-rock outfit Carboy in the late ‘80s. “For about six years, I led this double life,” she says now. “I loved the mix of business and pleasure.” Business truly turned to pleasure in 1992, when Patti went to work for Club Med’s Huatulco location and met her work and life partner, Jose Davila, who was then the resort’s entertainment director. His skills as a guitarist meshed perfectly with her flexibility as a vocal talent and, after just a few years of performing for Club Med’s American and Caribbean zone villages, the two came to the attention of the various cruise lines serving the area and they quickly became known as the successful shipboard musical duo, Jose and Patti. “I can’t even keep track of how many times we’ve crossed the world’s oceans,” says Patti. “We’ve been around the world at least twice, on every continent and every ocean, but one.” When Patti wasn’t touring, she was wowing the crowds at Tennis Canada’s Men’s and Women’s Tennis Finals at Montreal’s Jarry Park Stadium or doing stints at Japan’s Yokohama River Park Hotel or corporate functions for such blue chip companies as Canadair. Off ship, Patti makes her home in Pompano Beach, Florida, where she and her writing partner, Josh Pilot, are currently at work on an album of original pop songs. In particular, she says, “I like to sing pop songs that tell a story or give a message.” The year will also see Patti entering the worlds of film soundtracks and commercials, as she reaches into her deep bag of talents and uses all the tools that she’s sharpened over the years. “I’m in exactly the right place in my career,” she says with confidence. “I consider myself very fortunate: I get to make a living doing exactly what I want to do and I make other people happy with the end results of my efforts. How perfect is that?” www.joseandpatti.net