O n a Roberta Flack record, everything moves slowly. The beats tarry, encouraging the instruments to treat them with grace and the singer to savor every note. When Flack sings a song, she caresses each cadence, considering and intensifying them, the better to realize the full meaning of the lyric. In fact, it contains many complex and roiling parts, and, often, it escalates to a vocal crescendo so thunderous it could shake a concert hall to its core. Last year marked half a century since Flack introduced that style to the world on her debut album, First Take, which offered a daring contrast to the conventional pop, soul or jazz releases of its day.

Navigation menu
Madonna, Motown and Mongolian metal: the music to listen out for in 2020
Roberta Cleopatra Flack born February 10, [2] [3] is an American singer. She is known for her No. Flack lived with a musical family, born in Black Mountain , North Carolina to parents Laron Flack, a Veterans Administration draftsman, [4] and Irene Council [5] Flack [6] a church organist, [7] on February 10, [8] [2] some sources also say - Census states Roberta was 3 years old [9] [10] and raised in Arlington, Virginia. When Flack was nine, she started taking an interest in playing the piano, [6] and during her early teens, Flack so excelled at classical piano that Howard University awarded her a full music scholarship. She eventually changed her major from piano to voice, and became an assistant conductor of the university choir. Her direction of a production of Aida received a standing ovation from the Howard University faculty.
More Images. Please enable Javascript to take full advantage of our site features. Edit Artist.
Revisit " Sister, Sister " and more '90s TV throwbacks that need a revival now. See our picks list. Looking for some great streaming picks? Check out some of the IMDb editors' favorites movies and shows to round out your Watchlist.