--=[ Roberta Flack ]=--

Roberta Flack - Feel Like Makin' Love [1975]

Roberta Flack, perhaps the most eloquent, tasteful vocalist/arranger of her day, delivers another set of mostly wonderful recordings on this bluesy-pop collection. The orchestrations are pure Roberta - the visceral rhythm section is sublime; the swelling strings often stir great emotion. Even the throwaway pop on this album - I Wanted It Too, Heartbreak Top Ten - are intensely listenable. And that hit tune, Feel Like Makin' Love, has a breezy, jazzy, timeless feel.















Roberta Flack - Blue Lights In The Basement [1977]

Roberta Flack's voice is one of the treasures of black music. She blends folk, jazz, and R&B into a lovely sound that melds sophistication and soul. In many ways, Roberta Flack has had the same predicament that Nina Simone and other R&B artists have had. She can sing jazz and has some piano ability [not as much as Simone] and crafts songs. Yet Simone and Flack went down the opposite paths. Modest chart success empowered Simone to be an utterly uncompromising artist. Major chart success leads Flack to increasingly court the adult contemporary market. Not a problem for me as it gives more people the chance to hear her voice, but I prefer earlier Flack to late Flack. I enjoy this album for the Hathaway collaboration and "Move in With Me". But you also can smell the disco in "Move in With Me" and the adult pop contemporary production that slides into even these treasures.


Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway ~ The Closer I Get To You



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