Why this tune?
This week’s song is in memory of the great American singer and pianist Roberta Flack, who passed on this week (February 24). She has a special place in the hearts of people from Washington, DC, where Flack started her musical career. She was already an accomplished singer, pianist and teacher when she was hired to perform at Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill. I still perform occasionally on the upstairs stage the management built for her shows. The cover photo for her debut album “First Take” shows Flack at the piano at Mr. Henry’s.
“The Closer I Get To You” was written by two members of Flack’s band, James Mtume and Reggie Lucas. She recorded it as a duet with Donny Hathaway (who, like Flack, graduated from Howard University) on her 1977 album Blue Lights in the Basement. Like other pop songs from the 1970s, there’s plenty of harmonic complexity underneath the romantic exterior. The recording was nominated for the Best Pop Vocal Performance Grammy in 1979.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
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Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 