Roberta Flack & Donnie Hathaway - Roberta Flack Featuring Donnie Hathaway (CD)

All Music Guide

The combination of Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack undeniably ranks atop the all time great duet parings in the history of RB. Any opportunity to have one guest on the other's recordings brought out a sensual energy not to be denied, similar to the magnetic duets between Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye for Motown during the sixties. The seven song session didn't yield any timeless classics ala "The Closer I Get To You", but Flack's distinct and beautiful voice brings a level of class few singers in her league can aspire to. Two Stevie Wonder penned compositions "You Are My Heaven" and "Don't Make Me Wait Too Long" bring Wonder's unique arrangements together and give this album a more uptempo feel than most of Flack and Hathaway's prior works, both as solo artists and as a team. The album's climatic piece "Back Together Again" that helps to conclude the album on an upbeat note before breaking it down again into a soft, gentle finale that are calm, familiar waters. It's not without tragic... melancholy that these tracks are some of the final recordings Hathaway would appear on before his tragic death. - Rob Theakston, All Music Guide Read more Less