(JazzPlanet) Anita Baker Discography (MP3@320 Kbps)

Jazzplanet gives you the official discography of

"Anita Baker" in lossy format MP3@320Kbps





Discography

• 1983: The Songstress (Beverly Glen Music / Elektra)
• 1986: Rapture (Elektra)
• 1988: Giving You the Best That I Got (Elektra)
• 1990: Compositions (Elektra)
• 1994. Rhythm of Love (Elektra)
• 2002: Sweet Love: The Very Best of Anita Baker (Rhino)
• 2004: My Everything (Blue Note)
• 2004: A Night of Rapture (Atlantic / Rhino)
• 2005: Christmas Fantasy (Blue Note)


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Anita Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit.

Chapter 8 (1979)

In 1975, Baker (Mezzo) joined the Detroit-based band, Chapter 8, which featured Michael J. Powell, who would later produce her solo works. The band eventually got a record deal with Ariola, and their self-titled debut Chapter 8 came out in Fall 1979. Two singles hit the R&B charts: "Ready for Your Love," a duet between Baker and group member Gerald Lyles; and the Baker-led "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl."

After touring extensively, Chapter 8 were subsequently dropped from the label roster. Frustrated with the business, Baker decided to leave music behind.
The Songstress (1983)

In 1982, Otis Smith, an executive who'd worked with Chapter 8, found his new label Beverly Glen Music. He contacted Baker and enticed her to sign as a solo act. Due to the unhappy experience with Arista, Baker was reluctant at first, but finally accepted to record her debut album.

In 1983, Baker released her solo debut album, The Songstress, which produced by Patrick Moten and Otis Smith. Without major label's support, the album was initially not a success, but featured the R&B hit "Angel," peaked at #5. It helped Baker build a strong fan base through word-of-mouth.
Rapture (1985-1986)

In 1985, Baker signed with Elektra Records, a major label under Warner Music Group. She released her second album, Rapture, in 1986. Produced by her friend Michael J. Powell (from the Detroit soul band Chapter 8), Baker wrote several tracks for the album herself including "Been So Long" and "Watch Your Step", and co-wrote the single "Sweet Love" which became her first mainstream hit; it peaked at #8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, also making the Top 20 in the United Kingdom. "Caught Up in the Rapture", "No One in the World", and "Same Ole Love" also became major R&B and adult contemporary chart hits during 1986 and 1987. Rapture remains Baker's biggest-selling album and went on to sell nearly eight million copies worldwide. It also earned Baker two Grammy Awards in 1987: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for the album and Best Rhythm & Blues Song for "Sweet Love". A show from Baker's world tour, entitled A Night of Rapture, was filmed and released on home video (and DVD in 2007).

In 1987, Baker collaborated with The Winans on the single "Ain't No Need to Worry", which earned Baker her third Grammy Award the following year, in the Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group, Choir or Chorus category.
Giving You the Best That I Got (1988)

Baker's third album, Giving You the Best That I Got, was released in October 1988. She again worked with Powell, and the album became a critical and commercial success, topped on the Billboard 200 chart and selling five million copies worldwide (including three million in the U.S. alone).

The title track, "Giving You the Best That I Got", was chose as the first single and became Baker's biggest pop hit, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 while topping both the R&B and adult contemporary charts. Second single "Just Because" also became a Top 20 pop hit, peaked at #14 on the Hot 100, #4 on adult contemporary charts and topped on R&B charts again. The album won three more Grammy awards for her.
Compositions (1990)

Baker returned to the studio in 1990 for her fourth album (her third for Elektra), entitled Compositions. Once again produced by Powell, this time Baker became more involved in the songwriting and production process and began to experiment with jazz influences. Baker wrote or co-wrote seven of the nine songs on the album, including the hits "Talk to Me", "Fairy Tales", "No One to Blame", and "Whatever It Takes" (written with Gerald Levert). The album was mostly cut "live", in that the rhythm section was playing as Baker sang. The album included musicians Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, Paulinho da Costa, Vernon Fails, Ricky Lawson, and Stephen Ferrone.

The three singles from Compositions did not reach the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, though "Talk to Me" came closest peaking at #44. The singles became Top 20 hits on the R&B singles chart and were also adult contemporary hits. Compositions peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, #3 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and #4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for one million units sold in the U.S. The album also earned Baker her seventh Grammy Award and her fourth in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (a category that she had won four times during five awards ceremonies between 1987 - 1991).

Following Compositions, Elektra Records secured the rights to Baker's debut album The Songstress from 1983, and re-released it with a new cover artwork in 1991.

After almost five years of touring, performing, and recording, Baker took a break, only entering the studio to record the jazz standard "Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra for his 1993 Duets album.
Rhythm of Love (1994)

Baker's fifth album, Rhythm of Love, was issued in September 1994. After ending her production partnership with Powell, Baker produced most of the album herself along with many famous producers such as George Duke, Arif Mardin, Barry J. Eastmond, and Tommy LiPuma. Rhythm of Love was mainly recorded at Baker's home due to her pregnancy at the time, and she wrote five of the album's twelve songs. The album was a commercial success, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and #1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and eventually being certified double platinum by the RIAA.

The first single, "Body and Soul", became Baker's first US Top 40 hit in over five years. Baker won the award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the single "I Apologize" at the 1996 Grammy Awards, her fifth Grammy Award in this category and her eighth overall. Baker embarked on the Rhythm of Love World Tour in support of the album, on December 14, 1994 to November 14, 1995.
Long hiatus, and The Best of Anita Baker (2002)

After Rhythm of Love, Baker largely withdrew from the public eye for many years to dedicate time to her new family. Because of dissatisfaction with album's promotion, Baker filed a lawsuit against Elektra, requesting a transfer to another label in Warner Music Group. Finally she signed a five-album deal with Atlantic Records in September 1996.

After a long hiatus, Baker began to record new songs for new album in August 2000. However, the recorded material ruined by random popping noises from the rented 24-track tape machine, and the tracks couldn't be repaired.[1] She filed a lawsuit in federal court against Zomba Recording Corp. and its Dreamhire division in May 2001. In November 2001, without releasing any new project, Baker was dropped by Atlantic Records due to the restructuring of the label.

In June 2002, Rhino Records released The Best of Anita Baker (known as Sweet Love: The Very Best of Anita Baker in the UK, with a slightly different track listing), a compilation of Baker's material from 1983–2002. The album was certified gold by the RIAA, denoting sales in excess of 500,000 units in the US.
My Everything (2004) and Christmas Fantasy (2005)

Two years later, in March 2004, Blue Note Records announced that they had signed Baker to an exclusive recording contract that would result in at least two new albums. Bruce Lundvall, president and CEO of EMI Jazz & Classics, signed her after she approached him to record for Blue Note. At the same time Rhino Records released A Night of Rapture: Live, a compilation that contained nine live tracks and three multimedia videos recorded in the 1980s.

In September 2004, a decade after her last studio album, Baker released a new album, entitled My Everything. Co-produced by Barry J. Eastmond and Baker herself, she wrote or co-wrote nine of this album's ten tracks, including a duet with Babyface, "Like You Used to Do". Though she had been out of the limelight for some considerable time, the album was still moderately successful, peaking at number four on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified gold by the RIAA, denoting sales in excess of 500,000 units in the US.

In October 2005, Baker released her first Christmas album, Christmas Fantasy. Again produced by Baker and Eastmond, the album mixed traditional Christmas carols ("God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"), standards ("I'll Be Home for Christmas"), re-imagined classics ("Frosty's Rag"), Broadway show tunes ("My Favorite Things"), and three new songs by Baker and Eastmond ("Moonlight Sleighride", "Family of Man", and "Christmas Fantasy"). She received a Grammy Award nomination in 2007 for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for the song "Christmas Time Is Here", although she did not win.
Guest appearances and concert tour

In 2007, Baker appeared on Dave Koz's album At the Movies. She sang "Somewhere" from the Broadway musical West Side Story.

Baker embarked on a concert tour in 2007 to 2009, entitled An Evening with Anita Baker. Her performance at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan, on July 12, 2008, was recorded. On September 19, 2008, BusyBoy Productions[7] filmed her entire An Evening with Anita Baker concert at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, for Baker's up-and-coming DVD and B-roll footage for promotional purposes. However, these projects had yet to surface until 2012. On November 6, 2008, she performed at the 17th Annual Salute to Freedom aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York.

On June 10, 2010, Baker sang the National Anthem at Game 4 of the NBA Finals in TD Garden. Her performance was criticized by viewers, and many began criticizing the performance on Twitter after she finished singing.

Baker was scheduled to perform at VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul taped December 18, 2011: she was to sing "Sweet Love" during a salute to Detroit R&B music. However Baker dropped out of the show at the last minute: rumors claimed there had been friction between Baker and Divas 2011 performer Jill Scott but Baker attributed her leaving the show to its producers refusing to allow her to properly rehearse her number with the other Divas performers who'd be singing with her - presumably Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi who performed "Sweet Love" on the finalized Divas 2011 broadcast.