Clif Payne is an American singer, musician, and educator whose vocal style has generally been classified in the jazz, R&B, gospel, blues, rock, folk and pop genres. His duet, ''No Payne, No Gain'', recorded with

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

, charted at #1 on Great Britain's Soul/R&B charts in 2016. He has performed with such artists as

Evelyn "Champagne" King Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her first hit was disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from the early t ...

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is poss ...

Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and conductor (music), conductor. His Vocal pedagogy, vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in Pitch (music), pitch—fo ...

, Ellis Hall,

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

, and former

Chicago (band) Chicago is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967. Self-described as a "rock and roll band with horns," their songs often also combine elements of classical music, jazz, R&B, and pop music. Growing out of several bands fr ...

vocalist

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1 ...

among others.

Early life

Payne was born in

Sugar Hill, Manhattan Sugar Hill is a National Historic District in the Harlem and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City, bounded by West 155th Street to the north, West 145th Street to the south, Edgecombe Avenue to the east, and Amsterdam ...

to James and Aline (née McIntyre) Payne on June 8, 1954. His father was a jazz musician and his mother was a singer. Both of his parents were involved in the Harlem Sugar Hill jazz music scene and they resided at 935 St. Nicolas Avenue, New York where

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

lived on the floor above as well as other established jazz musicians. He and his family moved to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

in 1959. In addition to singing, Payne learned to play the guitar in 1962 at age 8 and the violin at age 10. In high school he performed in musicals on vocals, guitar, violin, and violin and was also in the school orchestra and choir. He graduated from North High School in 1972 and attended the

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

to study music and journalism. While in college, Payne sang in the show choir ''The Singing Hoosiers''. He went on to study jazz with

David Baker (composer) David Nathaniel Baker Jr. (December 21, 1931 – March 26, 2016) was an American jazz composer, conductor, and musician from Indianapolis, as well as a professor of jazz studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Baker is best k ...

and classical composition with John Eaton.

Music career

''No Payne, No Gain''

In 2016, Payne released his debut album, ''Welcome To My World'' which features a Clif Payne/

duet, ''No Payne, No Gain''. A dance mix of "No Payne, No Gain" produced by the UK's Nigel Lowis was on the 2016 Grammy ballot for nomination for ''Best R&B Vocal''. "No Payne, No Gain," written by

Preston Glass Preston Glass (born January 9, 1960) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked with several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie ...

, spent two weeks at the top of the Soul/R&B charts in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, receiving the title of UK’s Soul Song of the Year. The album was produced by Preston Glass and Larry Batiste and included vocals by

Maxine Jones Maxine Jones (born January 16, 1962), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman, best known as a founding member of the R&B/ pop group En Vogue, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. She sang lead vocals ...

and Reggie Calloway. In August 2016, Clif and Freda performed their duet live in LA at

Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill & Jazz Vibrato is a jazz club and restaurant on Beverly Glen Circle in Bel Air, Los Angeles, to the south of Mulholland Drive. It was established by Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Herb Alpert. Ariana Savalas Ariana Savalas (born January 9, 19 ...

club.

MLK tribute - Living Jazz

Payne is an annual performer and contributor at the ''Annual Musical Tribute Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'' in Oakland, California, which develops and oversees music education and performance programs for children.

Vocal instructor

Payne is a vocal instructor who has taught at the California Jazz Conservatory as well as privately.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Cliff Living people 1954 births American jazz singers Smooth jazz guitarists 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers