K-Bee
01-12-2004, 04:55 AM
I found this article and thought i'd share it with you guys. Apparanty Anita Baker has been going through a hard time lately, thus explaining her lack of new material:
from: http://www.startribune.com/stories/457/4291585.html
"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 BakerJ ohn Mccusker Associated 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."
from: http://www.startribune.com/stories/457/4291585.html
"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 BakerJ ohn Mccusker Associated 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."