Freda Payne - Come Back To Me Love (2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

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Freda Payne - Come Back To Me Love (2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

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Freda Payne - Come Back To Me Love (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 63:02 minutes | 1,31 GB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Front cover

Freda Payne, who will forever be remembered by those of a certain age for her 1970 mega hit “Band of Gold,” returns to her jazz roots on her latest album, Come Back to Me Love. Payne began her career singing jazz with the likes of Quincy Jones and Pearl Bailey, and her first solo album in 1964 was a terrific blend of big band and jazz combo tracks featured contemporary songs by Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, and Thelonius Monk. Her second album, though jazz based, was already veering off into pop/soul territory, and after 1970 she primarily recorded pop and soul material with only an occasional jazz selection thrown in for good measure.

"Come Back to Me Love" offers an opportunity to rediscover the multi-talented Freda Payne, who proves she can still swing with the best of them. A good portion of the album is devoted to songs composed by Detroit native Gretchen Valade, co-founder of Mack Avenue Records and a major sponsor of the Detroit Jazz Festival. She invited Payne to select six of her songs from a batch of 18, perhaps making Come Back as much about Payne’s return to the city of her birth, as her return to jazz. The title track and “Lately” are both languid, romantic ballads with lush strings and piano interludes that certainly sound like classics. “You Don’t Know,” co-written with Valade’s business partner Tom Robinson, is a sassy, up tempo romp, while “I Should Have Told Him” and “I Just Have to Know” have a bossa nova vibe that harkens back to the heyday of the Copacabana.

Jazz standards selected by Payne round out the album, which opens with a tight arrangement of Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” that showcases Payne’s scatting ability. On the Sammy Cahn/Jules Styne song “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” Payne effortlessly navigates the complex melodic and harmonic changes. The Lionel Hampton/Johnny Mercer number “Midnight Sun” has been covered by many great singers, including Ella Fitzgerald, and though Payne does an admirable job, her vocal timbre is perhaps not distinctive enough to set her apart from the pack. The album concludes with a swinging jazz rendition of the classic “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water.” Payne’s interpretation includes many of the bluesy, soulful elements for which the song is known, but the accompaniment is pure big band, not Stax (the Johnnie Taylor version from 1968 is a personal favorite). All of the arrangements on Come Back to Me Love were done by noted composer/bandleader Bill Cunliffe, who also conducted the 38 piece orchestra comprised of Hollywood studio musicians. For those who appreciate traditional vocal jazz and tight big band arrangements, this album is highly recommended.