Music Took Roberta Flack from D.C. Classrooms to Mr. Henry’s to Worldwide Stages

Music and education formed Roberta Flack into the celebrated singer, pianist and educator she is today. 

Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Roberta Flack, 86, grew up in the church, where she sat on the organ bench next to her mother, the organist. 

“I started studying classical music when I was about 9 years old,” the artist said in PBS’ “America Masters: Roberta Flack.”

The nation’s capital was critical to Flack’s career trajectory. She started college at Howard University at age 15, and after graduating, became a District of Columbia Public Schools teacher, working at multiple schools.

Eileen Gray attended Rabaut Junior High School, when Flack, then known as Ms. Novosel (she was married to bassist Steve Novosel), was a teacher.

“Probably my most poignant thought was when I walked down the hall with Ms. Novosel at Rabaut,” Gray said. “As teens, we tend to get ‘all in our feelings’ about trivial things. I [said] something wasn’t ‘fair.’”

The arts educator looked directly into Gray’s eyes and said, “Life isn’t fair!”  

While offering lessons in schools by day, the teacher took to Mr. Henry’s, a club on Capitol Hill, by night. That’s where jazz composer, pianist, and vocalist Les McCann discovered Flack. 

Her career was launched then she signed with Atlantic Records.

Flack’s celebrated song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was on her first album, “First Take,” released in 1969, but did not become a hit until three years later when it was on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut “Play Misty for Me.” 

Her dedication to teaching allowed her to support other musicians, such as Howard classmate and duet partner Donny Hathaway. 

Celebrated for her arrangements and foray in multiple musical genres, Flack emphasized her sound cannot be categorized. “I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer – no category,” Flack told The Guardian in an email in 2020. “My music is my expression of what I feel and believe in a moment.”