Clif Payne

"Clif is a lush tenor with soaring melismas in his individual passages." Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times

GRAMMY-honored vocals Clif Payne is called "the voice of silk and soul", with his first 2 solo albums as tributes to the classic jazzy, R&B stylings of the 1980s. In 2017, his debut album, Welcome To My World gave us the Clif Payne/Freda Payne duet "No Payne, No Gain" peaking at #1 in the U.K. Freda is best known for her 1970 hit "Band Of Gold." In 2018, Clif released the album, TOO featuring another U.K. hit, "Get Up, Get Busy." Both albums were produced by famed R&B songwriter and producer Preston Glass and songwriter/producer and GRAMMY representative Larry Batiste.

For his next studio project, Clif collaborates with former Kurt Elling music director and Grammy recipient Laurence Hobgood - "Stevie's World" - A tribute to the music of Stevie Wonder.

Pop music star Katy Perry, Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti and two-time Grammy nominee pianist Taylor Eigsti are among the celebs who have been in Clif's audiences. Harlem-born, his music spans the gambit from jazz to R&B and gospel and everything in-betweeen, having opened for Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick, Tony Bennett, Rueben Blades and Dianne Reeves. His album credits include Freda Payne, Little Anthony, George Benson, Dave Koz, Gerald Alston, Evelyn "Champagne" King and Melba Moore. His concert credits include the San Francisco Symphony, Lenny Williams and Freda Payne.

Clif was born in Harlem's Sugar Hill district within walking distance of the famed Apollo Theatre where his dad, James "Buddy" Payne played sax with jazz greats Fletcher Henderson, Lucky Millinder and Lionel Hampton. Clif's mom, Aline, was a vocalist in a choir that once backed Nat "King" Cole in concert. Clif's father was in the accompanying band. That's how Clif's parents met. While in Harlem, Clif, mom and dad attended the legendary Abyssinian Baptist Church and lived in the same apartment building that, at the time, was also home to several great musicians including Duke Ellington. He was on the 4th floor, the Payne family was on the 3rd floor. When Clif's dad was brutally murdered in 1957, his mom moved the family to her home in Evansville, Indiana. In 2019, connecting the dots to his roots, Clif visited the Harlem neighborhood and apartment building the first time since leaving Harlem.

Growing up in Evansville, Indiana, Clif's singing career began at his minister grandfather's church. His first solo was "Steal Away." Clif was also a skilled violinist and guitarist who led several popular bands as a student at North High School. Upon graduation, he attended Indiana University at Bloomington and studied with Kennedy Center honoree and Smithsonian jazz legend David Baker. Clif was also a singer in the university's Singing Hoosiers and a guitarist in the IU Soul Revue. Clif turned down an opportunity to study with Leonard Bernstein to go on the road touring the country with Stevie Wonder's bandmates.

Clif's first road gig with a bona fide "hitmaker" was with Sonny Turner, the Platters lead singer who replace the group's original lead singer, Tony Williams. From there, Clif moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1980 where he was "discovered" by Bobby McFerrin. Numerous work as a vocalist resulted in Clif moving to Los Angeles in 1990 where scored 2 wins on TV's Star Search as lead singer for the group, Reflex. That led to Clif gigging with LA's finest including the acapella vocal ensemble Inner Voices, Hiroshima and the great drummer Harvey Mason. As a session singer, Clif could also be heard on commercials by Dental Dental, Manwich and Chevrolet. Exhausted by the LA lifestyle, Clif returned to the Bay Area in 1995, but immediately began a 3-month concert tour of Japan.

Returning to the US, he resumed his singing career and also began teaching voice at various schools including Berkeley's California Jazz Conservatory, Castro Valley School of Music, Notes Music Academy and his current faculty position as vocal instructor at the Community Music Center of San Francisco.

Clif's musical journey is to create, encourage and inspire. In 2023, Clif received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University School of Music's Singing Hoosiers.