N'Dea Davenport | |
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 Davenport in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 22, 1966 |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
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N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) [1] is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band the Brand New Heavies and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz.
Her diverse projects include collaborations with music producers and artists, such as Mark Ronson, Louie Vega, Roger Sanchez, Guru’s Jazzmatazz , Madonna, Natalie Merchant, Mos Def, Sly and Robbie, J Dilla, and Malcolm McLaren. Dance scholarships, acting and music were the core of her developments as an artist and entertainer. Immediately after finishing college, she left her then home of Atlanta, Georgia, en route to Los Angeles. There she engaged in theatrical productions and commercial music video and was embraced by artists in both art, music and popular culture. Her legacy as an artist began also with her involvement in the burgeoning Los Angeles underground club and rave scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Working simultaneously as a dance artist and recording and commercial studio session singer, Davenport was soon connected with Fab Five Freddy, who recommended her to a DJ friend at new upstart label Delicious Vinyl. Eurythmics member and producer Dave Stewart offered Davenport a recording contract a year prior when introduced through a collaboration with Bootsy Collins and Malcolm McLaren, where she was featured on McLaren's Waltz Darling LP. She declined Stewart’s offer at the time due to his requirement for her to relocate to London, England. Later to ink a solo development deal with Delicious Vinyl, who made introductions to her future bandmates, The Brand New Heavies who at the time had no singer. With the core band members based in London, she decided to relocate there.
The band’s initial UK indie label Acid Jazz Records, struck a deal with London Records for distribution in Europe and the rest of the world. During this period, the band produced a string of international albums and singles, invigorating a global movement and popularized the musical term known as acid jazz. Parallel to this, Davenport completed work on Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 , with Guru.
In 1995, Davenport left the group citing irreconcilable differences, returning to the US and choosing New Orleans as a home base while she pursued other collaborations, and completed work on her solo recording with Delicious Vinyl. Encouragement received from her associate and record producer Daniel Lanois, resulted in the completion of her debut solo effort as producer, all except for four songs, produced by Dallas Austin. While her association with Delicious Vinyl was dissolving, Davenport's project was picked up by the newly formed label owned by Sir Richard Branson. In 1998, her self-titled debut solo recording on V2 Records was released. She toured extensively in support of the album, around Europe, North America and Australia and with the concert series Lilith Fair. When the relationship at V2 came to an end she continued musically primarily focusing on European dance music projects.
Davenport held residency in New Orleans but lived primarily in New York City. Her diverse musical tastes led to an eventual stance as a New York club DJ and she continues to DJ on special events around Asia. In 2006, she re-emerged once more with the Brand New Heavies for one last album release of Get Used To It. Her latest project is with collaborator Katsuya Everywhere in the multi-media based electronic and acoustic duo Celectrixx, which was conceived in Japan.
Keith Edward Elam, better known by his stage name Guru, was an American rapper, record producer and actor. He was a member of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jazz rap is a fusion of jazz and hip hop music, as well as an alternative hip hop subgenre, that developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. AllMusic writes that the genre "was an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter." The rhythm was rooted in hip hop over which were placed repetitive phrases of jazz instrumentation: trumpet, double bass, etc. Groups involved in the formation of jazz rap included A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.
The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New Heavies are best known for a string of successful singles in the early 1990s featuring N'Dea Davenport as lead vocalist. They are currently on tour with a best of set, incorporating a string section and 70’s influenced sequinned trousers.
Jazzmatazz, Volume 1: An Experimental Fusion of Hip-Hop and Jazz, is the debut solo studio album by American hip hop recording artist Guru. It was released on May 18, 1993, by Chrysalis Records. Recording sessions took place at D&D Studios in New York. Production was handled by Guru himself, who also served as executive producer together with Duff Marlowe and Patrick Moxey.
Acid jazz is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul, and hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1980s with the rare groove movement and spread to the United States, Western Europe, Latin America and Japan. Acts included The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, James Taylor Quartet, Us3, and Jamiroquai from the UK, and Guru, Buckshot LeFonque and Digable Planets from the U.S. The rise of electronic club music in the middle to late 1990s led to a decline in interest, and in the twenty-first century, acid jazz became indistinct as a genre. Many acts that might have been defined as acid jazz are seen as jazz-funk, or nu jazz.
Jazzmatazz is a series of hip hop and jazz recordings from American rapper Guru.
Guru's Jazzmatazz: Streetsoul is the third solo studio album by American hip hop musician Guru. It was released on October 3, 2000, via Virgin Records as the third installment of Guru's Jazzmatazz album series. Production was handled by Gang Starr, The Neptunes, Agallah, DJ Scratch, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, The Roots and Victor Flowers.
Forever Everlasting is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Everlast. It was released on March 27, 1990 via Warner Bros. Records. The eleven track full-length album features a remix song of his 1988 single "Syndication", and singles "Never Missin' a Beat", "The Rhythm" and "I Got the Knack". Single "The Rhythm" featured guest appearances from his Rhyme Syndicate bandmates Donald D and Ice-T, as well as an early appearance from the Brand New Heavies singer N'Dea Davenport who is credited as "Diva", and "I Got the Knack" featured scratches provided by DJ Lethal, whom he would later join to form House of Pain.
"Midnight at the Oasis" is a song by the American singer Maria Muldaur from her 1973 debut album, Maria Muldaur. Written by David Nichtern, it is her best-known recording.
Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles, California.
The Brand New Heavies is the debut album by British acid jazz and funk group The Brand New Heavies.
Jay Deelicious: The Delicious Vinyl Years is a compilation album that catalogues hip hop producer J Dilla's early production career. The album showcases Dilla's first work with Pharcyde, and consequently, his rise to fame with other artists. As well all proceeds from the sale of this album will be given to his mother, Maureen Yancey.
Brother Sister is an album by British acid jazz and funk group the Brand New Heavies, released on March 22, 1994, by Delicious Vinyl. It spawned several singles, including "Spend Some Time" which spent two weeks at number two on the American dance charts. A cover of Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" became popular in the UK, but was not included in the US version of the album.
Get Used to It is a funk album by the Brand New Heavies released 27 June 2006 via Starbucks and more traditional music retail outlets.
Following a 10-year tenure with their record labels, funk band the Brand New Heavies released two greatest hits albums titled Trunk Funk, a wordplay on the band's long standing elephant logo.
The Best of Guru's Jazzmatazz is a greatest hits album released by Guru on Virgin Records. This compilation includes tracks from the first three volumes of the Jazzmatazz series, as well as remixes and alternate versions. Tracks 1-6 & 17 (1993), Tracks 7-11 & 18 (1995), & Tracks 12-16 (2000).
N'Dea Davenport is the self-titled studio album by American singer and songwriter N'Dea Davenport, released on June 30, 1998, by V2 Records. The album peaked at number 56 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and number 14 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.
Sulene Fleming is a British singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the band the Brand New Heavies from 2016 to 2018.
Malik Turner is an American rapper and producer from Fayetteville, NC, who came to prominence in the 1990s as a rapper. He is known for his politically aware, socially conscious lyrics, and sample heavy production. Malik is the other half of the duo, "Malik Turner and DJ Master Jam". The duo was formed in the early 1990s when Malik and DJ, Master Jam were college students at Cheyney University. In 1992 Malik and Jam, along with two friends, Allen "Nadir" Muhammad and Milton "Fahyim" Sharp formed "Son of Man Productions". In 1994, with the support of Guru from Gang Starr, and DJ Sean Ski, Son of Man Productions released the classic independent single, No More 9 to 5 and The Last Days of Wax on their own label "Mpacked Sounds". The classic record was mastered by mastering engineer Tony Dawsey. Mpacked Sounds focused on a more independent label and artist ownership position in their music, during a time when their peers were interested in seeking record deals from major labels. At the time Billboard noted the lead single "No More 9 to 5", for having top 40 single potential and hip hop magazines like Rap Sheet and Rap Pages featured Malik and Master Jam as a rising duo to look out for. Projects with Mpacked Sounds led to opportunities to share the stage with the likes of Brand Nubian, the Fu-Schnickens, Black Sheep, Poor Righteous Teachers, Da Bush Babees, The U.M.C.'s, Rakim, and others.
This is the discography documenting albums and singles released by American singer N'Dea Davenport.
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