Freda Payne Returns to the Iridium, 11/12-14

Freda Payne returns to the Iridium Nov 12-14 doing her tribute Ella and now Lena. Born  in Detroit, Michigan, Freda grew up  listening to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, which inspired  her growing interest in music. While still in school, she began her musical career by singing radio commercial jingles. It was then that her polished voice first caught the attention of music executives and other artists. She was wooed with offers of contracts from the likes of Berry Gordy and Duke  Ellington, but her mother wanted her to finish school  first.  After she did, the legendary Pearl Bailey gave Freda her first professional job and this paved the way for her to share the stage with other legends such as Lionel Hampton, Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Eckstine, Quincy ]ones, Bill Cosby and many others. Freda toured with Quincy Jones during his big band era, performing at the world famous Apollo in New York and the Regal  in Chicago, among others, and soon after,  recorded her first album When The Lights Go Down for Impulse Records.

Then in 1969, some of her hometown friends, brothers Brian & Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier, persuaded Freda to sign with their newly formed label, Invictus. These distinguished songwriters were responsible for putting Motown  music firmly on the map by writing and producing million sellers for acts such as The Four Tops, Martha & the Vandellas and The Supremes - whose last lead singer is Freda's sister Scherrie - also blessed with an incredible vocal talent. Freda went on to score with her own million-selling singles, ³Band Of Gold² and ³Bring The Boys Home.² During this time, a busy Freda  also added theatrical credits to her resume. She understudied Leslie Uggams for the Tony Award winning, Broadway show Hallelujah Baby in 1967 and appeared with the Equity Theatre in a production of Lost in the Stars. Freda¹s ever expanding repertoire included roles in
the award-winning musical, Blues in the Night, Jelly¹s Last Jam, Ain¹t Misbehavin¹ and Sophisticated Ladies.

In the 80s, Freda concentrated on acting and television, briefly hosting her own talk show, but never entirely losing touch with her music.  She recorded a single in 1982 entitled "In Motion"and a remake of "Band of Gold"with Belinda Carlisle in 1986 and most recently  American Idol¹s Kimberly Locke just rerecorded it.  The new millennium brought a new album of jazz, pop and R&B called Come See About Me and rave reviews for her show, "Love & Payne,"which featured Freda and
Darlene Love at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York City, and at the Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.

For the past two years, Freda¹s Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald has enjoyed sold out performances at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles, the Iridium and Feinstein¹s in NYC, the Spokane Jazz Festival and on tour in Performing Arts Centers, nationally and overseas. Her performance in the 2007 revival of
Blues in the Night at the Post Street Theatre in San Francisco garnered full houses and rave reviews during its extended run.

Most recently, Freda was invited to perform at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, during it¹s 75th Anniversary Celebration honoring Quincy Jones.A DVD of the Festival will be released later this year. Freda was just on American Idol to celebrate the Disco Diva Era which was viewed by over 50 million viewers. PBS just launched a tribute to the 70's music featuring Freda Payne and many others conducted by Marvin Hamlish For more info visit FredaPayne.com and ScottStander.com

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