Grammy Award-nomineated singer and actress FREDA PAYNE ("Band Of Gold") was born on September 19 in Detroit. Freda modeled and took ballet and Afro-Cuban dance. While at Hutchins Middle School, she appeared on the nationally televised Ted Mack's The Original Amateur Hour. Singing jingles, Payne was featured on WJR radio's Make Way for Youth and many other local television and radio shows. Payne's mother spurned a contract from, then unknown, Barry Gordy.

When she graduated from Central High School Freda Payne toured with Pearl Bailey's musical review and sang with the Duke Ellington Band. Her first album was ‘After the Lights Go Down’ for ABC's Impulse Records in 1962.

Moving to New York City, Freda made appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show and The Dick Cavett Show. In 1964, she joined the Four Tops, Billy Eckstine, and Nipsey Russell on the Quincy Jones Tour. Payne was understudy for Leslie Uggams in Broadway's ‘Hallelujah Baby’ and performed in the show 5 times.

Stardom for Payne began when she signed with Invictus Records, run by her old Detroit friends, Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., and Lamont Dozier (formerly of Motown) in1969. Payne's smash single "Band of Gold" in 1970 was ranked #1 in the U.K. and #3 in the U.S.A., her first gold record. Other hits included "Deeper and Deeper", "You Brought Me Joy" and the anti-war, "Bring the Boys Home". As her star kept rising, Payne appeared in television specials and toured Europe and Japan.

Although she left Invictus in1973, to date she has recorded 21 albums including several remakes of "Band of Gold". In1974, she made the cover of Jet magazine after she was dubbed a Dame of Malta, by the Knights of Malta and the Sovereign Military and Hospital Order of St. John of Jerusalem by the Prince of Rumania. Payne hosted Todays Black Woman, a talk show, in 1980 - 81 before joining the cast of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies in 1982. She also starred in productions of Ain't Misbehavin' with Della Reese, The Blues in the Night, Jellies Last Jam with Gregory Hines, and Savion Glover into the 1990's. Payne film appearances include Private Obsession, Sprung , Ragdoll , The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and Fire and Ice.

More recently, Freda released an EP of duets titled ‘Let There Be Love’ featuring Freda singing with Johnny Mathis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kenny Lattimore, and Kurt Elling. She has also been busy writing her memoir ‘Band of Gold A Memoir’ Yorkshire Publishing (November 2, 2021) with Mark Bego.

In January 2024 Freda will release  a new single titled ‘Just To Be With You’. (Golden Promises Mix) produced by former Motown producer Michael B. Sutton at The Sound of L.A. (partnership with Worldsound/Virgin Music Group/Universal Music Group)

Freda Payne’s prolific career will continue to flourish and prosper for as long as her creative juices keep flowing. Her indelible mark on the music industry is far from over.

The American dream came true for Catalina Popescu in October of 1986 when she and her husband Bob created a supper club devoted to serving an experience of superb eats and the shared magic of live performance. That grand experience began at the door where every night her mother Maria would greet each guest as family and share in their love of music. Housed in Hollywood and decked out in a timeless charm, the club offers a cozy ambience under sparkling stage lights garnished with its signature concoction — Jazz. The first artist to grace the stage was the masterful flutist and saxophonist Buddy Collette, and ever since then, over the past 36 years, the Catalina Jazz Club has hosted the most illustrious legends of all time — from the powerful puffers of Dizzy Gillespie to the electrified fingers of McCoy Tyner, the bubbly belt of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Lynda Carter, the flirtatious saxophone of Joshua Redman, the slick strumming of Kenny Burrell, the insane drum clinic of Steve Gadd, the romance of Steve Tyrell, and the masterclass of Mike Stern.

For Catalina, Jazz is our way of life. It breathes pain. It knows love. It dreams hope. It bleeds courage. Whether we’re showcasing Broadway, Soul, R&B, or stand-up comedy, the lesson learned from all the greats who have serenaded our spirits is how to connect to one another. And that’s why the Catalina Jazz Club will always have a table ready for you.

The Catalina Jazz Club has been honored by A.S.M.A.C., California Jazz Foundation, Los Angeles Jazz Society, and a City of Los Angeles Certificate of Appreciation on their 25th Anniversary, which was awarded by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the LA City Council which included then City Council member and current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.