To this day Anita Baker remains a songstress in the truest sense of the word. Since her first appearance her songs have held a special power. The type of music she helped usher in, those slow groove instrumentals coupled with that sultry voice have now become an almost romantic cliche, the type of music one might play trying to seduce their love, next to a crackling fire, in a room adorned with rose petals. Yet really her songs have a far more genuine, more timeless manner to them. Every hit she has produced in her long career has had that same raw emotion as her first, "Sweet Love"; those low, smoky notes that curl up to her characteristic passionate wail, a sound that sends a chill up the spine and can move some to tears. And to see her perform is a separate experience onto itself. Entering a stage Baker displays that winning smile, occasionally dancing for her fans, yet when the song begins she is dead serious. Swaying stiffly with the rhythm, she croons her melodies, spreading her arms and arching her neck with her eyes closed during the louder, more enthusiastic notes. Today Anita Baker stays a subtle yet impressive act. When she belted out the National Anthem at the World Series it was respectfully modest. She seemed unusually nervous, perhaps unaccustomed to the type of crowd and the responsibility behind the song. And while singers like her contemporary Whitney Houston might have been accompanied by a big band and an F-16 flyover, with Ms. Baker it was just her and a microphone. Yet the crowd loved it. And through it all she's remained a class act. On more recent red carpet appearances, she's shown herself to have aged gracefully (a characteristic most evident when side-by-side with Joan Rivers), and her voice has remained as captivating as her personality. She's never quite gotten her due in the public; most people would not recognize her at first sight as they would most pop starlets. But really, to call Ms. Baker a "celebrity" could almost be considered an insult, for after her years of displaying a winning combination of talent and character in the field of music, she is much closer to being remembered as a legend.