LONGVIEW — R&B vocalist and jazz singer Freda Payne will perform her jazzy “Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald” on Friday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. at LeTourneau University’s S.E. Belcher Jr. Chapel and Performance Center, 2100 S. Mobberly Ave in Longview. George Faber and Friends, a local jazz, rhythm, and blues ensemble, will open the show.

Tickets range from $34 to $13, depending on seating preference. A dinner catered by Bon Appetit will also be offered before the concert for $15 per person. Contact the Belcher Center Box Office at 903-233-3080 or visit between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.BelcherCenter.com.

Payne’s tribute will contain famous Fitzgerald songs, including “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” Payne enjoyed listening to Ella Fitzgerald when she was young, and her own music career began with winning a talent show when she was 13. After singing on radio and TV shows, Payne was given her first professional job at the age of 17. Through Payne’s career, she worked and performed with big music names such as Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., and others.

In 1970, her song “Band of Gold” reached No. 3 in the United States and #1 in the United Kingdom, giving Payne her first gold record. Payne went on to pursue acting in movies and Broadway, although she never left music. Releasing several albums and songs in the 1990s, she also appeared in several movies, including Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. She appeared on American Idol in April 2009, singing her hit “Band of Gold.”

LeTourneau University integrates learning, living and Christian leadership in a community of integrity, academic quality and technological innovation. It is an interdenominational university offering academic majors in the aeronautical sciences, business, education, engineering, the humanities and sciences. LeTourneau University also offers business degrees, including a Master’s of Business Administration degree, and teacher certification programs at five education center in Austin, Bedford, Dallas, Houston and Tyler.

Claiming every workplace in every nation as its mission field, LeTourneau University graduates are professionals of ingenuity and Christ-like character who see life's work as a holy calling with eternal impact.