"Roberta" Premieres at DOCNYC Festival
Roberta Flack |
I was privileged to be in the audience for the world premiere of Antonino d'Ambrosio's new film Roberta, a documentary on the life of the two-time Grammy Award-winning American chanteuse Roberta Flack. For those of us who were around in the 1970s, Roberta Flack's music has been part of the soundtrack of our lives for 50 years. Via personal interviews with luminaries such as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Yoko Ono, Angela Davis, Peabo Bryson, Valerie Simpson, Sean Lennon, among others, the film paints a a multi-faceted picture of the artist, and answers many questions that we may have had.
Flack in 1971 |
Flack with Donny Hathaway |
The film also reveals that, had it not been for Roberta, we might not have heard of Donny Hathaway, Peabo Bryson, or Luther Vandross.
I first met Roberta Flack in the 1970s when she was at the height of her fame. She had come to Nashville to perform as soloist with the Nashville Symphony. At the time, I had been a recent piano soloist with the symphony, and when introduced she said to me, "Oh, I'm so delighted to meet you!" At the time I did not know of her own ambitions to become a world-renowned classical pianist herself. In my memoir I tell the story of how our paths crossed again years later in New York City - when I was preparing to record my own album - and she invited me to practice on her 9-foot Bösendorfer in her apartment in the Dakota. (She was the first black woman to live in the Dakota, BTW.) I witnessed first hand her generosity and her willingness to support other artists.
Jesse Jackson and Flack |
Nina Kennedy is a concert pianist, orchestral conductor, and award-winning filmmaker. She holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School. Her memoir, Practicing for Love, is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. The sequel, Practice What You Preach, is available at infemnity.com/shop.
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