"SINGER ANITA BAKER READY TO RETURN TO THE SPOTLIGHT"

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
Associated Press

NEW YORK---After 10 years in musical seclusion because of family turmoil,Anita Baker is returning to the spotlight.The Grammy-winning R&b singer has signed a deal with Blue Note Records to produce at least two albums,and expects to release her first project before the end of the year.

"I'm so excited",the singer said Wednesday."I do see that there is a demand for what I do,and my fans are still there".

With a classic soul sound and a deep,sensuous voice that recalled Sarah Vaughan,Baker,46,became one of R&B's premier artists in the late 80s and early 90s with hits like "Sweet Love","Rapture" and "Giving You The Best That I Got".

But she dropped off the music scene nearly a decade ago after releasing the album 'Rhythm Of Love' in 1994.At the time,Baker,who is married,had two young sons (now 10 and 11 years old),a mother suffering from Alzheimer's and a father dying of bone cancer.

"I couldn't focus on the music at all.I tried,but each time I tried,that door was closed to me",she said."My parents were dying and I couldn't write".

So she took a break to take care of her family in Detroit,where she lives.Baker never considered hiring anyone to take care of her family so she could continue her career.

"She took care of me,she didn't hand me off to someone else,"Baker said of her mother."I'm really happy in retrospect that I did it that way,because she breathed her last breath in my arms."

Baker's father died in 1998;her mother died in 2000.After her mother's death,she felt she could pursue her career again."It was almost like I was given permission when she passed".

Baker had a deal a couple of years ago with Atlantic Records after being wooed by it's legendary founder,Ahmet Ertegun,but an album never materialized."I couldn't fulfill my obligations to him and I really regret that,because he's a wonderful man".
[This message was edited Fri Mar 5 6:28:15 2004 by DavidEye]

Great News!!! Thanx David! She's still one of my all time favourite female singers. can't wait for the new abum 2 drop!!

i hope she finds a recording studio that aint gonna up her

It's great that she chose a small jazz label to launch her comeback.They'll allow to her to make the type of album that she wants to make.If she were to sign elsewhere,they'd be telling her "You know,Anita....let's bring in some rappers to spice up these tracks".


[This message was edited Fri Mar 5 6:53:20 2004 by DavidEye]

This is great news. It will be so nice to hear a female that can actually sing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there are no great female singers out there, I realize there are plenty, like Whitney, Chaka, Aretha, Mary J. etc, but with all the pop crap and shit like Toxic, Milkshake and the shit from Kylie too, it will be damn refreshing to her Anita sing again!!

Well, it's about time.

Thanks a lot! That's great!

OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!

Real Music is comin back Ya'll Blue Note has always dedicated thier "real music for real Music lovers" tradition going its about time a REAL Femal vocalist stepped up 2 show these news sistas how its done. cant wait to hear the new project.

That's great news!!!

DavidEye said:

Blue Note is waaaay far from being a "little jazz label" its actualy the MOST IMPORTANT jazz label out-there for years but its the best label out-there cuz like you said they give a tremendous creative freedom.

Arif Mardin is doing extra work on them Blue Note artists, I TRUELY hope he could hook up with her cuz the man could deliever one hell of an atmosphere eso when it comes to jazz.

I found this today browsing the web:

Anita Baker's back after dealing with real life

Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Published January 2, 2004 MUS02

Anita Baker was working on her sixth album when life intervened.

"When I'm doing the music, I like to give it everything I have, and that's impossible to do when your parents are ill," said the queen of quiet-storm R&B, who performs tonight in Minneapolis for the first time in nine years. "My earth mother had Alzheimer's; my dad had bone cancer. I buried my birth mother and my earth mother and my dad within the space of 3 1/2 years."

That period was an impossible time, the married mother of two said a few weeks ago from her Detroit home. "I'm sitting here now talking about it, and it seemed like it happened 10 years ago. But it was only a year ago."

Baker, who has collected eight Grammys, has been out of sight since 1996, when she last toured extensively. In 1998, she paid to get out of her contract with Elektra and switched to Atlantic Records. She was excited to work for the legendary Atlantic executive Ahmet Ertegun, who had been affiliated with everyone from Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles to the Rolling Stones and Bette Midler. But she never finished the album for Ertegun.

Anita BakerJohn MccuskerAssociated Press"I just couldn't get it done," Baker said. "I just could not write; I was at the nursing home [attending to her parents] every day. The stuff that I did write during that time, it was so dark that I just kind of threw it in the fireplace. I do regret that I wasn't able to sing for them."

She left Atlantic and concentrated on life, attending to her two ill parents and her two sons. The boys, now ages 9 and 10, were her "saving grace," keeping her laughing and moving from one sports competition to the next.

After her "earth mother" (the woman who raised her) died in November 2002, Baker wanted to get back to singing. Not only was she grieving, but she and her husband were separated. She felt she needed to do something to give her stability, so she called her agent to book some concerts.

"My agent didn't believe me because he's been trying to get me back to work for seven years," said Baker, who will turn 46 this month. "He put something together in the secondary markets. We weren't sure about the primary markets. We weren't really sure about anything. I wasn't sure if I could do it or not. I was just very weak."

They scheduled one show for Dec. 17, 2002, in a suburban New York theater, and there was enough demand for four shows. The concerts, Baker said, were amazing.

"It was a wonderful way to grieve and rejoice at the same time," she reflected.

By spring of 2003, Baker was willing to step up to something more high-profile -- singing the national anthem at the Pistons' NBA playoff games in Detroit.

"The first night that I did that, the local news station said 'the reclusive Anita Baker appeared to sing the anthem,' " recalled the diminutive diva, who volunteered with a giggle that "I'm a lot rounder than I used to be."

"It's funny how people perceive you. I'm dropping the kids off at soccer games and basketball games. I'm doing what mommies do."

New CD recorded

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Baker was raised in nearby Detroit. In the 1970s, she sang with Chapter 8, one of Detroit's most popular R&B bands. The group's 1979 album for Ariola led to Baker's solo debut, "The Songstress," in 1983, which got her signed to Elektra two years later. Working with producer Michael Powell (who had been in Chapter 8), she released "Rapture," which featured her rich-as-a-turtle-sundae contralto and the smash hits "Caught Up in the Rapture" and "Sweet Love."

The title track of her second album, "Giving You the Best That I've Got," became a Grammy-winning hit. On her third album, "Compositions," she wrote more material and headed off in a jazzier direction. In 1994, she released "Rhythm of Love," which included her interpretations of "My Funny Valentine" and "The Look of Love."

In 2002, two compilations of her songs were released, but she took little interest in them. "I have yet to get a copy of those," she said.

In 2003, Baker returned to the studio with producers Barry Eastmond and George Duke, who had worked on "Rhythm of Love." She said she was able to "write from a less intense place" than during the period when her parents were ill. She has finished a new project and is negotiating with two labels to release it.

A spokesman for Blue Note -- home to Norah Jones, Van Morrison and Al Green -- has confirmed that the company has been negotiating with Baker.

The singer hopes to have the album out in the spring. Meanwhile, after touring last summer, she has booked six shows this holiday season while her sons are on school break. And they travel with her.

"We have to find the video arcades, movies, skate parks, rec centers, swimming in the hotel," she said, "and the Mall of America."

Nowadays, Baker has reversed her priorities: She lives her life, and sometimes her career intervenes.

"I was definitely living the Peter Pan syndrome until I had to take care of my parents," she said. "I'm a grown-up now, reluctantly so. But I feel like a kid when I'm working."


Source: http://www.startribune.co...91585.html

*****

Somewhere else I read this:

“For the past five years I had been channel surfing and all you see is MTV and kids. The demographics became very very young. I figured I was relic and my time has passed. And I figured I had something to offer in the jazz arena,” Baker said.
But when she contacted Bruce Lundvall, head of Blue Note Records, about recording a jazz album, he told her he’d be interested in an R&B album from her as well.
“She is one of the great artists, no question about it,” Lundvall told the AP. “There’s not another voice out there like hers, it’s instantly recognizable.”
Baker has already written songs for her new album, which she says “has the same elements of R&B, jazz and gospel influences throughout, because that’s just me.”
But Baker says she’s interested in working with new artists, such as Alicia Keys or bluesy guitarist Robert Randolph, who wowed the Grammy audience last month with his performance.
Baker says she’s not going to conform to today’s musical scene: “Even at the height of my career, I was always not quite with it, I was always off doing my own thing.”
And she says fan response to her recent concert performances show there’s still an interest in her own style.
“I didn’t know that anybody would give a hoot,” she laughed. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

I can't wait. It's Blue Note the same label that released Al Green's new album. While it wasn't a smash, it was very good certaintly didn't tank. They also have Norah Jones, right? That is proof that the potential for a hit it there. I really don't care if it's a hit though. I just hope it gets released and I think Blue Note will make a serious comitiment and advertise it too so it won't just get released without much fan faire.

We need Keith Washington as well.

2freaky4church1 said:

No we don't.

'dre

Anita Baker had an album ready to go 3 years ago.....

Anita filed lawsuits in federal court against an audio equipment rental company back in 2001 because she claims that they ruined some tracks on her then forthcoming album. Baker is reportedly sought to get $200,000 for damages done to the tapes of her recordings. Baker stated that the 24-track tape machine she rented produced random popping noises. She said it cost her more than $500,000 to rent the machine, hire producers, songwriters, musicians and vocalists, and pay their travel ands housing expenses. She had the album recording wrapped up when she noticed that her master tapes had popping noises.

I wonder will her new album contain ideas from these recording sessions.

DreZone said:

Thank you. Let him stay whereever the hell he is.