Anita Baker: Compositions (Elektra Entertainment)
James Hunter, Musician, August 1990
FOUR YEARS ago, Anita Baker quietly stormed the pop music charts with Rapture, a reclamation of jazz-soul balladry driven by acoustic resonances and Baker's forthright voice. Slightly overrated, Rapture still announced the arrival of a singer and a songwriter whose allegiances to the past seemed like a personal necessity rather than a sales gambit, as Baker interpreted outsized tunes like 'Sweet Love' and 'You Bring Me Joy' with the control and heart of a gospel singer.
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