Cover image: Carole Denise Fredericks
©CDF Music Legacy LLC

Entrée to Black Paris has featured the inimitable Carole Denise Fredericks (1952–2001) in multiple blog posts over the years, beginning with an article in our original Black Paris Profiles™ series in 2012.  Fredericks is best remembered as a beloved member of the multi-platinum French trio Fredericks Goldman Jones and for her solo career, which showcased her ability to cross cultural and musical boundaries with ease.

Nine months ago, CDF Music Legacy proudly announced the release of Carole Fredericks LIVE!, a limited-edition posthumous album capturing Fredericks at the height of her artistry. The release was celebrated on June 6, 2025 with a tribute concert at the Apollo Theatre in Paris.

The restoration project was spearheaded by Carole's sister, Connie Fredericks-Malone (whom ETBP has also featured on the blog), and overseen entirely by the small, family-run CDF Music Legacy organization.

It was a labor of love more than twenty-two years in the making.

Carole Fredericks LIVE! CD

The recordings, discovered in late 2003 among Fredericks' belongings, came from her only solo tour—the Couleurs et parfums Tour (1999–2001). Though they suffered from technical flaws and low fidelity, the tapes revealed electrifying performances where Fredericks blended American blues, R&B, and soul with French pop and rock. 

"Despite the challenges of the raw recordings, what I heard was astonishing," recalls Fredericks-Malone. "This was Carole at her peak—singing in English and French, moving effortlessly between genres. These tracks could not remain unheard."

With the help of audio engineers Frank Scheidt and later Robert Pickert, the fragile recordings were painstakingly restored and remastered. The final selection of nine tracks includes fan favorites such as "Mighty Love," "Tender Love," "Think," "Veille," "Sex Machine," "Run Away Love," "Tu Es La," and "Respire" as well as an extraordinary rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" (featuring Manu Guerrero on piano).

"Sex Machine" (first made famous by James Brown) is garnering fresh attention.  Honk Magazine says "Fredericks brings back the song’s classic funk sound." Lyrical Odyssey Music says it "sounds more like a moment captured in amber than audio. The song has the kind of raw energy you would hear in a live stage performance, and it captures the unmistakable spirit of an artist whose voice and presence linger well after the lights dim."  Blazemuse says "She doesn't just play a classic again, she turns it into a lively conversation between the performer and the audience. Her strong vocal runs rise above the groove, mixing control, charisma, and emotion in a way that feels both natural and skilled."

Carole Fredericks LIVE! cements Fredericks' place as one of the most distinctive voices of her generation—an artist whose music was as fearless as it was soulful.

The album is available in two physical formats:

Limited edition vinyl LP – eight tracks from her concerts at Auditorium Saint Germain des Prés, plus "Summertime," available exclusively at www.caroledfredericks.com.

Limited edition CD – featuring the same nine tracks, available exclusively at www.caroledfredericks.com.

Carole Fredericks LIVE! is also distributed digitally via CD Baby and streaming platforms, ensuring fans around the world can experience Carole's legacy anew.

Read about Fredericks on the ETBP blog at the links below: 

U.S. - French Cultural Exchange Proposed Based on Carole D. Fredericks' Life and Music 

Celebrating Carole Denise Fredericks (1952-2001)

A Visit to Montmartre Cemetery

Read about her on the Paris Insights blog here: Celebrating the Memory of Carole Fredericks

Read about the U.S.-French Cultural exchange inspired by Fredericks here: Classes Duo Paris / New England