Roberta Flack to Play Smothers Theatre, 2/6 (1068 hits)
The unparalleled Grammy Award-winning artist Roberta Flack brings her sterling voice to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre on Friday, February 6 at 8 p.m.
Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, Grammy Award-winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz.
Raised in Arlington, Virginia, Roberta Flack discovered her earliest musical influences from the church. She'd frequently sneak over to the local AME Zion Church to hear such gospel luminaries as Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers. By the age of 15, Roberta enrolled at Howard University on a full music scholarship - laying the groundwork for a life-long career in music and music education, which would skyrocket by the summer of 1968.
After finishing her education and teaching music for several years, Roberta started working two to three nights a week at the 1520 Club, playing solo piano and singing. When her voice teacher told Roberta that he saw a brighter future for her in pop music than the classics, she started reshaping her repertoire in her ensuing stints, and her reputation spread. At one famous nightclub on Capitol Hill, Mr. Henry's, the owners constructed an upstairs performance area especially for her, with its unforgettable church pew seating. It was there that Les McCann witnessed Roberta's powerful talent and arranged an audition for her with Atlantic Records.
Roberta recorded First Take, her debut album, in a mere ten hours at Atlantic Studios. Among the songs she cut was "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." A year later, she released her second album, Chapter Two, produced by Joel Dorn and King Curtis.
In 1971, encouraged by Jerry Wexler, Roberta and Donny Hathaway collaborated on "You've Got A Friend." Her peerless interpretation of the contemporary pop hits won her critical acclaim.
By 1972, Roberta's dogged perseverance began to really pay off. Clint Eastwood personally decided to include "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" in his thriller, Play Misty For Me. At the same time, the singer's fourth album, Roberta Flack & Donny
