Jazz Articles about Freda Payne

About Freda Payne

Live Review

Freda Payne Blues Alley Freda Payne Washington, DC January 26, 2025 Blues Alley kicked off its 60th anniversary celebration with a special treat: multi-gold-record performing artist Freda Payne, the “Band of Gold" gal who captivated the pop charts back in the early '70s with her soulful serenade to lost love. Good news to report: Payne looks great, sounds better and makes the transition from pop songstress to American songbook chanteuse with equal measures of ...

Bailey's Bundles

Notable and Nearly Missed 2014

by C. Michael Bailey
January 4, 2015

As I have grown older, I have come to the startling and disheartening realization that I will not be able to read all the books there are, and, more importantly, listen to all the music there is (much less write about it). I otherwise appreciate a finite lifespan, but not when it comes to books and music. For a genre of music garnering a percentage of listeners in the single digits, jazz is represented disproportionately in the market place.

Album Review

Freda Payne: Come Back to Me Love

Read "Come Back to Me Love" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
July 20, 2014

In 1970, the spirited R&B/pop singer Freda Payne had a monster success with “Band of Gold," a bouncy love-gone-wrong song that was probably the first top-40 hit ever written about impotence. Decades later, with undiminished pipes, beauty, and impressive energy, Payne returns to the spotlight with this big-band outing from Mack Records on its Artistry Music imprint. Arranged and conducted by the brilliant pianist Bill Cunliffe, Come Back to Me Love features a full complement of brass and ...