Unlike yesterday, our song today does have multiple offerings on that video sharing site, but the offering that is the actual video of this song, the audio is sub-par and as such I had to post the superior sounding recording but enough about my quirks on to the music!
This month has been a somewhat interesting stroll down memory lane for me… I can literally use Anita Baker’s music as markers for different eras of my life. The 16 year old who was intrigued by Rapture had grown into a budding 20 year old working musician by the time “Talk To Me” hit my ears in the Spring of 1990. True to form Giving You The Best That I Got had been in daily rotation in my car’s cassette deck since it’s release just as Rapture had been before Giving. This song and album were highly, highly anticipated this was the very height of my living in Anitadom.
Upon first listening to “Talk To Me” I was immediately struck by this underlying energy in the performance… the music was alive and I was alive. The weather had broken, sunroof was open and a nice breeze was about, the car had a pretty decent listening environment and in my mind all was right with the world. It was one of those experiences where I felt transported, I was inside the performance and Ms. Baker was in great, great voice and those musicians kicked the song into overdrive. The colors of jazz, blues, gospel, soul permeated my sonic palette and in listening to the out chorus I could see the line clearly that lead from Ellington and Basie to Baker. There was another musical builder on the scene who had toiled and learned how to create her own foundation from the masters.
Listening to “Talk To Me” right now in 2011, I can feel the essence of 1990 and in many ways I miss her, because of music like our song of the day which in many ways was an anomaly for the time (live musicians and recording). Technology is a tool for music it is not music. Maybe some of the problems that we are having today can be traced to the fact that many don’t even know how to make a musical brick, much less a foundation.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
