Anita Baker
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is available for public concerts and events. Anita Baker can be booked for
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Anita Baker Biography
With her classy, refined brand of romantic soul, Anita Baker
was one of the definitive quiet storm singers of the '80s. Gifted with
a strong, supple alto, Baker was influenced not only by R&B, but
jazz, gospel, and traditional pop, which gave her music a distinctly
adult sophistication. Smooth and mellow, but hardly lifeless, it made
her one of the most popular romantic singers of her time.
Baker was born January 26, 1958, in Toledo, OH, and raised in nearby
Detroit, where she grew up listening to female jazz singers like Sarah
Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Ella Fitzgerald. At age 12, she began
singing a gospel choir, and by age 16 she was performing with several
local bands. In 1975, she successfully auditioned for Chapter 8, one of
Detroit's most popular acts at the time; the group eventually signed
with Ariola and released an album in 1979, but were immediately dropped
when the label was acquired by Arista (which didn't care for Baker's
vocals). Chastened, Baker worked low-paying jobs in Detroit and
eventually found steady work as a receptionist at a law firm. In 1982,
Otis Smith -- an executive who'd worked with Chapter 8 -- contacted
Baker about recording for his new label Beverly Glen. Happy with her
employment benefits and skittish over the experience with Arista, Baker
was reluctant at first, but eventually flew out to the West Coast to
record her debut album, The Songstress, in 1983. Though it didn't gain
quite enough exposure to become a hit, it did help Baker build a strong
fan base through word-of-mouth and she was signed by Elektra in 1985.
Working with producer Michael J. Powell (an old Chapter 8 cohort),
Baker released her major-label debut Rapture in 1986. It was a
platinum, Grammy winning smash, appealing to both urban and adult
contemporary listeners and producing two all-time quiet storm classics
in Caught Up in the Rapture and Sweet Love. Baker toured the world
in 1987 and her guest appearance on the Winans track Ain't Got No Need
to Worry won a Grammy. Her equally stylish follow-up album, Giving You
the Best That I Got, appeared in 1988, spawning more staples in the
title track and Just Because. Giving You the Best That I Got also
won Baker two more Grammys, for Best Female R&B Vocal and Best
R&B Song. For her third Elektra album, Baker decided to handle a
greater share of the songwriting, hence the title Compositions, which
was released in 1990 and featured even stronger jazz inflections than
Baker's previous work (not to mention all live instruments).
Following Compositions, Baker took a break from recording and touring;
after having her first son in 1993, she returned to the studio to craft
Rhythm of Love, which was released in 1994. In the years that followed,
Baker was mostly silent, despite her fans' clamoring for a jazz album;
instead, she raised her family and became embroiled in contract
disputes with Elektra, which eventually led her to move to Atlantic.
She began working on a new album in 2000, but had to start over from
scratch due to defective recording equipment that made the original
tracks unsalvageable. In 2004 it was announced that she had signed with
Blue Note and still working on her new album. In the meantime, the
Atlantic imprint Rhino released Night of Rapture: Live, a 1987 concert
originally available on video. Baker finally returned to the studio in
2003 and issued My Everything, her first album in 10 years. Two years
later she released her first holiday album, Christmas Fantasy. ~ Steve
Huey, All Music Guide
Written by Steve Huey