Flack kills ’em softly in MCA performance

A woman in the back row of Saturday’s gala opening at the Maine Center for the Arts performing season said it all: “I brought tissue. I hope I have enough.” She was describing her anticipation of a concert by Roberta Flack, the love-song lady who rose to fame in the 1970s with the gold records “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly.” Who HASN’T cried to those songs?

Of course, Flack’s talents extend far beyond those two songs — as a nearly full hall of concert-goers knew after more than two hours of music Saturday. Although Flack’s act is made up of all the old songs, many of which could make you cry merely because they come from the musically sappy 1970s, she isn’t looking for sniffly nostalgia. Unlike some comeback stars, Flack merrily gives her audience what it wants. And then some.

For instance, the 45-minute set by the Philadelphia contempo-jazz band Pieces of a Dream. A surprising addition to the night’s program, this opening act was powerfully amplified — both technically and emotionally. The five-piece group did more than act as a warm-up, however. It steamed the audience with fusion jazz driven by big bass sounds, torquey percussion, kaliedescopic keyboards and sexy saxes. By the time piercing sound levels were adjusted, Pieces of a Dream had proved itself as a smooth and enticing group.

But no one could be smoother than Roberta Flack herself. In more than a dozen songs, she reclarified all the reasons she won the hearts of any of us the first time around. The woman can sing. She understands melody and she downright revels in harmony — five-part if she can get it.

And she can with the band she has collected — the masterfully limber Jerry Barnes on electric bass; guitarist Sherrod Barnes, whose wind-out work could have stepped right out of the 1970s; Shelton Becton, who moves from rag to raucous without effort; and the gamesome Puggie Bell with that special genre of lilting percussion. Andre Smith, Flack’s partner vocalist, is part Temptations, part Boyz II Men, part honey chile.

Flack is always the star, but the band was tight musically, to the point where, at times, it felt more like a musicale than a pop concert.

Which is to say, Flack can perform songs with repetitive, sugary lyrics and you’ll actually WANT to listen. Her voice is gravel AND velvet. It’s smoke AND silk. She was quick and proud to point out that her 1994 recording “Roberta” was nominated for a Grammy Award, so it’s not completely fair or accurate to say her career has seen better days. At 60, Flack is as she was at 30: impassioned and ready to ham it up in song.

The night included several of her signature hits. She dedicated “Where Is the Love” to her late musical partner Donny Hathaway, crooned out “I Feel Like Makin’ Love,” rocked in the story of “Reverend Lee,” and closed with “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The most inspired oldie, however, was “Killing Me Softly,” which was simply intoxicating.

Flack also performed from the cover songs that have made up much of the rest of her career: Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne,” B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone,” Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

Although Flack has a tendency to overproduce her interpretations, the approach is classy with echoes of church music, rock, jazz, blues and folk. She’s a fusion artist who, thanks to the Fugees, was put back in the spotlight with a remake of “Killing Me Softly” a few years ago.

And Flack has taken back the spotlight happily. Evoking the 1970s could, indeed, lead to tissues — especially when you consider some of the music that came out of that decade. But Flack isn’t looking for tears. These days, she smiles even when she sings the blues.