Roberta Flack Plays Smothers Theatre Tonight

The unparalleled Grammy Award-winning artist Roberta Flack brings her sterling voice to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre tonight, February 6 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $40 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at http://arts.pepperdine.edu/. More information: http://robertaflack.com/

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

Hathaway, was released. Two days after it hit the stores, Washington, D.C. proclaimed April 22nd as Roberta Flack Day, kicking off a weekend celebration encompassing receptions at the Kennedy Center and the Congressional Caucus Room. At an evening banquet attended by more than 500 friends, admirers, and luminaries, Roberta was presented with the Capital's official proclamation, Down Beat's award as Top Female Vocalist, a D.C. youth award, and gold records from Atlantic for the "First Time Ever" single, and the First Take and Quiet Fire albums.

At the subsequent Grammy Awards ceremony, in March 1973, "First Time Ever" won Record of the Year and Song of the Year, while "Where Is The Love" won for Best Pop Vocal by a Duo. This kicked off a slew of chart-topping songs and more Grammy Awards for subsequent albums.

Roberta's work has spanned not only performance but also music producing. She composed and produced the soundtrack album for the Richard Pryor/Cicely Tyson film Bustin' Loose. She has collaborated with Peabo Bryson, performed with live orchestras, toured Japan twice with Miles Davis and the Crusaders, toured sold-out performances in South Africa, performed at the Toronto Jazz Festivals again with Miles Davis, and headlined a series of tours with Patrice Rushen and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She has collaborated on many performances throughout the years with musicians such as Madonna, Elton John, Sting, and many others. From 1995-1998, Roberta hosted a weekly radio show, Brunch with Roberta Flack, during which she presented her unique insights into the world of music. In 1999, Roberta received the coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The turn of the millennium showed that Roberta had no intention of slowing down. With international tour dates including Turkey, Argentina, Australia and Japan, she is constantly inspired by seeing first hand that her music continues to be loved and enjoyed around the world. Today, Roberta Flack remains a shining inspiration to her fans, peers and younger musicians in the music industry. Roberta has appeared with soul artists like Alicia Keyes, India.Arie and Angie Stone, all younger artists who have been heavily influenced by Roberta Flack's earlier achievements.

Roberta is also an outspoken participant in the AEC (Artist Empowerment Coalition) whose primary goal is advocacy for artists' rights and control of their creative properties. Through it all, she always comes back to the music, which is why it is not surprising that Roberta was asked by VH1 to participate in its "100 Greatest Love Songs" and "100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll" television events. Roberta's latest release was her 2003 Christmas album, Holiday, a timeless collection of seasonal favorites, a Roberta classic or two, plus a few goodies thrown in for good cheer. Presently, Ms. Flack is working in the studio completing a Beatles' songs project for Sony ATV.

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