Freda Payne News

The Recording Academy and Clive Davis will present the annual Pre-GRAMMY® Gala on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton, the evening preceding the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards®. As part of the celebration, Clarence Avant will be recognized as the 2019 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons® honoree for his groundbreaking contributions to the music industry.

Composer, arranger, and conductor, David Berger, is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 750 full scores of classic recordings, including more than 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Several of these transcriptions in addition to a number of original arrangements are featured in last season's Broadway hit, After Midnight.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the West Coast premiere of the roof-raising musical play Marie and Rosetta. Developed at TheatreWorks' 2015 New Works Festival by Lucille Lortel Award-winner George Brant, Marie and Rosetta shares the saga of a musical legend. From stirring up churchgoers in the morning to rocking the Cotton Club at night, Sister Rosetta Tharpe inspired Elvis, Ray Charles, and more on her way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Growing competition on the 1940s Gospel Circuit finds Rosetta auditioning a new partner with a voice made from heaven. Will they break, blend, or find harmony at last?

Just when you think you've heard all the great Jazz music imaginable over the years at Birdland, the 'Jazz Corner of the World' and Gianni Valenti present someone who raises the bar another notch. Vocalist Veronica Swift who defies gravity with her sensual voice, boundless technique, and creative melodic improvisations is a singer destined for musical super stardom. She also happens to be 24 and is already recognized around the country as one of the top young jazz singers. In the fall of 2015 Veronica won second place at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. In 2016 she was asked to perform a concert of her own at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in NYC and she was a guest artist with Michael Feinstein at Jazz at Lincoln Center with the Tedd Firth Big Band with Marilyn Maye and Freda Payne. Veronica first appearance at Jazz at Lincoln Center was at age 11 when she performed at the 'Woman in Jazz' series at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

The RRazz Room will present Born of a Legend: Carla Cooke Sings the Ultimate Sam Cooke Experience on Sunday, October 21 at 7pm. Tickets are $30.00 Gen Adm and $35.00 Day of Show.

October show listings have been announced At Martinis Above Fourth. See the lineup below.

1st Annual California Jazz & Blues Museum Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony Fundraiser and Barbara Morrison's Birthday Celebration Concert, a fundraiser for the Museum to develop their digital arts program, to introduce basic coding, Android development, organizational structures, basic computer competencies and create an interactive section in the Museum which will give visitors an open source digital portal to the vast historical collection of Jazz & Blues available at the Museum and throughout Los Angeles.  The museum's goal is to raise $25,000.00.  The purpose of the Inductee Ceremony is to recognize local, national and international Jazz & Blues legends for their contributions to the music industry.

Tapper/Singer/Director Maurice Hines and brother Gregory first performed with Ella Fitzgerald at The Flamingo in Vegas. He knew he was in the presence of greatness. Maurice called her 'the greatest singer I have ever heard'.

Refusing to end their 2017/2018 season, Delaware Theatre Company reprises their hit production Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Happy to be performing for Wilmington audiences again, tap dancing legend Maurice Hines will wow audiences for one weekend only, Friday, June 1 to Sunday, June 3, 2018.

'Now that you're gone, all that's left is a Band of Gold….' Well, that was 1970, and while the singer of the song's husband may have quit, Freda Payne the songstress is very, very much still around. She stars in Delaware Theatre Company's regional premiere of ELLA: First Lady of Song, opening April 18.

Delaware Theatre Company dazzles this spring with their final 2017/2018 season production, Ella: First Lady of Song! Written by Lee Summers (Off Broadway: From My Hometown) and conceived & directed by tap dancing legend Maurice Hines (DTC: Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life, Film: The Cotton Club). This enchanting regional premiere peeks into the key scenes and songs that changed Ella's struggles into a celebrated jazz career.

May December relationships are fraught with peril. We are now informed they function in theoretical physics and the space between notes of music.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie are pleased to announce that Broadway legend Maurice Hines will serve as the Master of Ceremonies and international touring artist and global humanitarian Mary McBride will headline the 2018 Arena Stage Gala honoring Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., SW). As previously announced, the Gala features the presentation of the third annual Beth Newburger Schwartz Award to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and will recognize Jessica Stafford Davis as an Emerging Leader. The Gala is helmed by event chairs and Arena Stage Trustees Lavern Chatman and Maggie FitzPatrick.

Centenary Stage Company kicks off the New Year and the annual January Thaw Music Festival on Sunday, January 14 at 2 pm in the Lackland Performing Arts Center with Freda Payne: A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

The multi-talented Freda Payne best known for her singing career, as well as, her No. 1 hit 1970 pop anthem, Band of Gold has toured the world in concerts, theater performances, one woman shows, as well as, appearances in films and television, briefly hosting her own TV talk show. Freda Payne: A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, celebrates Ella Fitzgerald's 60+ year career from her 1934 award winning Apollo Theater debut and through her celebrated career as a vocalist.

Centenary Stage Company launches 2018 with an exciting line up of jazz events through the month of January with the annual January Thaw Music Festival in the Lackland Performing Arts Center. This year's festival features Freda Payne in a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald on Sunday, January 14 at 2pm, Danny Bacher in Swing that Music! A Jazz Tribute to the Three Louis on Sunday, January 21 at 2pm and the Brazilian Bluegrass of Matuto on Saturday, January 27 at 8 pm.

Bay Area Cabaret, now in its 14th season of presenting world-renowned Broadway, pop and jazz vocalists, announces the 2017-2018 season of shows at San Francisco's most elegant and historic showroom, the Fairmont Venetian Room (950 Mason Street atop Nob Hill). This marks the seventh consecutive season at the legendary 'grand dame' Fairmont San Francisco and the stellar lineup of performers features some making their Bay Area Cabaret debuts, as well as the return of several favorites.

Two unmistakable voices that helped define an entire generation of music in America, Mary Wilson of The Supremes and Martha Reeves of The Vandellas, come together for an evening of Motown favorites at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Saturday, October 7 at 8 p.m.

An eclectic lineup is featured this month at Blue Note Hawaii with an array of iconic national artists, local favorites and hilarious comedians. The Henry Kapono Artist to Artist Series continues with Jerry Santos of Olomana, followed by local greats Shawn Pimental and Lehua Kalima, one-man wonder Tavana, Kapono N??ili?ili, Brother Noland and of course the incomparable Willie K. The Blue Note Hawaii Comedy Series continues this month with Steve Byrne and Louie Anderson. National recording artist and GRAMMY Award-winning R&B icon Regina Belle kicks off the month and is book ended with a capella phenoms Take 6. More artists this month include bandoneon player JP Jofre and his Nuevo Tango Quartet, the amazing flamenco guitarist Ottmar Liebert and pop singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson. There are also two late-night shows with self-proclaimed blues road dog G Love, following his performances at the sold-out Jack Johnson concerts.