By Mary Ann Bourbeau
Freda Payne, known to many from her 1970 popular hit “Band of Gold,” will perform at Avenel Performing Arts Center Nov. 23 and 24.
Photo courtesy Avenel Performing Arts
WOODBRIDGE – For many people, Freda Payne will forever be associated with the song “Band of Gold,” a hit that spent 20 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart back in 1970. But the Detroit native never set out to be a pop star. She sang jazz with big bands, including those of Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones. Payne is still performing jazz standards and will showcase some of these timeless songs when she performs at the Avenel Performing Arts Center in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Nov. 23 and 24.
“I’ll be singing songs from ‘The Great American Songbook’ as well as my hit material,” she said. “Some Nancy Wilson and maybe Aretha, but primarily Ella Fitzgerald. I love everything about her. Her voice, her articulation, she’s one of the best jazz singers, and a great scatter.”
Payne’s talent was obvious from a young age. Before he founded Motown Records, music producer Berry Gordy Jr. tried to sign her after hearing her sing radio jingles, but Payne’s mother deemed her too young at the time.
“Berry didn’t have the success that he has now,” she said. “He was just an ordinary guy who had written a couple of hits songs for Jackie Wilson, and he was still struggling. I was only 17. I felt like my mother knew what was best at the time.”
At age 18, Payne moved to New York and soon signed her first record deal. In the 1960s, she was performing with Quincy Jones’ big band and noted jazz singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine. She sang with Sammy Davis Jr. and shared a bill with many of the biggest stars of the time, including Bob Hope, George Burns, Don Rickles, Redd Foxx and the Smothers Brothers.
“It was a thrill to work with them all,” she said.
She remembers headlining at a jazz supper club in Chicago around 1970 with Jay Leno as her opening act. The marquis outside the theater said “Freda Payne” in big letters and “Jay L. No” below in smaller print. When Leno asked why they spelled his name wrong, he was told that they ran out of the letter “e” because they used them all in “Freda Payne.”
In 1968, Payne signed with the producing team of Holland, Dozier & Holland, with whom she recorded “Band of Gold.” She was nominated for a Grammy Award for best R&B Vocal Performance and scored her first gold record.
“I’m grateful for that song, which has become such an iconic hit,” she said.
Payne’s career includes a stint on Broadway as understudy to Leslie Uggams in “Hallelujah, Baby!” Other theater credits include “Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies,” “The Blues in the Night” and “Jelly’s Last Jam” with Savion Glover and Maurice Hines. She also starred in “Ella Fitzgerald – First Lady of Song,” which ran for several weeks in 2004 at Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick. She hosted a television talk show called “Today’s Black Woman,” sang on “American Idol” and appeared in movies, including “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.” Payne is currently recording a new album of duets, in which she performs with Johnny Mathis, Kenny Lattimore, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling.
Funded by the Woodbridge Arts Alliance, the Avenel Performing Arts Center is a 195-seat performance space that opened in April. It is part of a $50 million redevelopment project, including 500 apartments, on the site of the former General Dynamics plant. Just steps away from the Avenel train stop, the state-of-the-art facility also includes a restaurant and bar.
“We saw this as an opportunity to bring new energy into the township and bring a new focus to Avenel,” said marketing manager Christina Hoffman. “With the restaurant and bar, it’s just one stop for a nice night out.”
The theater is versatile in that the seats can push into the wall to change the configuration of the room. Cocktail tables can be added for a cabaret-type show and the movable stage can be transformed for various purposes. Each seat has a cupholder so patrons can enjoy a drink during the show.
Curtains Bar and Restaurant offers a pre-show meal in the dining room or outdoor patio and has live entertainment several nights a week. Chef Patrick Kotsonis has introduced a new fall menu that includes pizza and tapas.
“The township wanted something versatile that was not just a theater,” said Hoffman. “We’re small, affordable and very personable. When people walk in for the first time, they’re astounded.”
The lineup is diverse, including theater, music, dance, comedy and magic. Upcoming performers include Broadway’s Analisa Leaming (“The King and I,” “Hello, Dolly!”), “Celtic Angels Christmas,” “Santa’s Circus” (a cirque show), “One Man Star Wars Trilogy” and Tony Award winner Debbie Gravitte.
“We pride ourselves on bringing New York talent to Avenel,” said Hoffman.
Daytime Emmy Award winner Anthony Wilkinson serves as executive and artistic director. Wilkinson is the creator of “My Big Gay Italian Wedding.” Its sequels, “My Big Gay Italian Funeral” and “My Big Gay Midlife Crisis” will be performed at the Avenel Arts Center this season. Wilkinson is excited to bring such a varied lineup, including Freda Payne, to the area’s newest arts venue.
“Freda Payne has been one of my favorite icons over the decades and I know most of our area will share in the same nostalgia,” he said. “She was and still is an incredible entertainer and I’m so excited to present her here at APAC.”
Tickets for Freda Payne are $39.50 and are available by visiting avenelarts.com.
Arts and entertainment reporter Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
