Anita Baker

There was another robbery in Los Angeles on Thursday night: Anita Baker stole the show from headliner Luther Vandross at the Sports Arena. And she made off with quite a bundle, thanks to a marvelously staged performance that clinched her status as one of the most prized vocalists to emerge in the '80s. But Baker had an unlikely accomplice in this heist: Vandross himself, who turned in a flat, poorly paced show that made it easy for Baker to shine.

This post has been corrected. Please see note at the bottom for details. Going into Wednesday night's show at the Hollywood Bowl with Anita Baker and Esperanza Spalding, it was hard not to wonder if a more interesting (and surely bolder) bill could have developed if only the headliner and opener were reversed. The headliner, Anita Baker, is one of the key artists associated with the "quiet storm" sound, a smooth, down-tempo varietal of late-night R&B that became a radio format with artists such as Sade and the late Luther Vandross in the '80s.

This post has been corrected. Please see note at the bottom for details. Going into Wednesday night's show at the Hollywood Bowl with Anita Baker and Esperanza Spalding, it was hard not to wonder if a more interesting (and surely bolder) bill could have developed if only the headliner and opener were reversed. The headliner, Anita Baker, is one of the key artists associated with the "quiet storm" sound, a smooth, down-tempo varietal of late-night R&B that became a radio format with artists such as Sade and the late Luther Vandross in the '80s.

Shows canceled: Due to throat problems incurred after performing at the Detroit Pistons game last week, Anita Baker has canceled a June 9 appearance at the Hollywood Bowl and a June 10 performance in Concord, Calif. Refunds are available at all points of purchase.

After 10 years in musical seclusion due to family turmoil, Anita Baker is returning to the spotlight. The Grammy-winning R&B songstress 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. With a deep, sensuous voice, Baker became one of R&B's premier artists in the late '80s and early '90s with hits like "Sweet Love" and "Rapture."

R&B singer-songwriter-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds has sued singer Anita Baker for breach of contract, claiming the sultry Grammy-winning songstress owes him at least $250,000 after canceling two concert dates last year and also for producer's royalties owed him on the song "Like You Used to Do."

***ANITA BAKER. "Giving You the Best That I Got." Elektra. Naturally, the first thing everyone is going to do with Baker's new album is compare it to her last one, "Rapture," which sold more than 4 million and helped forge a niche for jazz-oriented artists in the pop mainstream. No, the new collection of mellow love songs isn't as good as "Rapture." But that's not really a put-down.

Despite the heavy metal and rock emphasis at the top of the charts, Anita Baker's jazzy ballad album continues to be the nation's best seller. Another woman bucking the hard-rock trend: Edie Brickell. If Tracy Chapman weren't everyone's choice for best new artist of 1988, Brickell's achievement might be getting more attention. Her album, "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars," is filled with oddball, poetic rock--the kind of album that usually languishes in the lower depths of the Top 200.

Just when you're foolish enough to think you've heard everything, along comes a young female black singer to make you excited again about music. And no: We're not talking about Whitney Houston. Just when Houston is being hailed by many as the major new female pop vocalist of the '80s, along comes a formidable challenger. Indeed, Anita Baker is arguably the more compelling talent.

One glance at the glowing countenance on the cover of Anita Baker's Grammy-nominated album "My Everything," and you wonder whether the veteran singer has discovered some kind of magical, anti-aging elixir. "Not me, no magic here," she says, laughing. "But it's nice to hear." So, apparently, is Baker's voice, which sounds as youthfully vigorous on her first album in a decade as it did when she released a series of platinum records and piled up eight Grammys in the 1980s.

R&B singer-songwriter-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds has sued singer Anita Baker for breach of contract, claiming the sultry Grammy-winning songstress owes him at least $250,000 after canceling two concert dates last year and also for producer's royalties owed him on the song "Like You Used to Do."

One glance at the glowing countenance on the cover of Anita Baker's Grammy-nominated album "My Everything," and you wonder whether the veteran singer has discovered some kind of magical, anti-aging elixir. "Not me, no magic here," she says, laughing. "But it's nice to hear." So, apparently, is Baker's voice, which sounds as youthfully vigorous on her first album in a decade as it did when she released a series of platinum records and piled up eight Grammys in the 1980s.

After 10 years in musical seclusion due to family turmoil, Anita Baker is returning to the spotlight. The Grammy-winning R&B songstress 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. With a deep, sensuous voice, Baker became one of R&B's premier artists in the late '80s and early '90s with hits like "Sweet Love" and "Rapture."

Christmas music filled with the crisply swinging rhythms of jazz, the drifting timbres of flutes and synthesizers, the acoustic sounds of world music? It's not precisely what one imagines as an audio track for jolly St. Nick's trip down the chimney.

Maybe Anita Baker is tired of being known as the queen of that stylish but sedate "quiet storm" radio format. Maybe she spent too much time watching MTV during her four-year break from concerts and became enthralled with the thunderous sonic assault of Metallica. Or maybe someone just forgot to turn down the volume Tuesday at the Universal Amphitheatre. It's hard to figure.

A&M Records' perserverance certainly paid off in the case of Sheryl Crow's "Tuesday Night Music Club" album. It came out in August of last year, but only recently started scoring on the pop chart--No. 6 on the Times' Southern California chart and No. 8 nationally. A hit single, "All I Wanna Do" (No. 13 on the local pop singles chart) is fueling the surge. There was no dropoff on Anita Baker's second-week numbers (No. 2 in Southern California and No.

"I love to see folks play kissy-face," Anita Baker told some understandably amorous folks in the front row at her Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre show on Sunday. Outside the confines of the concert hall, of course, kissy-face isn't all people play while listening to Baker. Frank Sinatra no doubt holds the record as the man who single-handedly did the most to help spur the baby boom, but Baker might be the closest we have to a modern-day equivalent.

Maybe Anita Baker is tired of being known as the queen of that stylish but sedate "quiet storm" radio format. Maybe she spent too much time watching MTV during her four-year break from concerts and became enthralled with the thunderous sonic assault of Metallica. Or maybe someone just forgot to turn down the volume Tuesday at the Universal Amphitheatre. It's hard to figure.

Anita Baker was somewhat concerned that some fans might forget her after her four-year break from recording. But that core audience must still be there. Her "Rhythm of Love" opened strong--at No. 2 on the Times' Southern California pop album chart--and No. 3 nationally. Does the album have enough pop appeal for a long stay in the Top 10? Early indications are that it does. Singer-guitarist Eric Clapton struck another blow for classic rock with his new album, "From the Cradle," debuting at No.

Anita Baker has seemed to have it all for years: hit albums, Grammys, successful concerts, critical acclaim. Yet something was missing in Baker's life: children. Their eventual arrival has kept her out of the spotlight for most of the last four years. Since her last album, 1990's jazzy "Compositions," her career has taken a back seat to motherhood. After her second miscarriage, Baker gave birth to two sons: Walter, 19 months, and Eddie, 4 months.