Alana Schofield Davis (born May 6, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. Her father,

Walter Davis Jr. Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist. Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never be ...

, was an African-American pianist who played alongside such jazz greats as

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

. A record deal with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

produced Davis' first two albums; '' Blame It on Me'', which was chosen as one of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

s five best albums of 1997, and 2001's '' Fortune Cookies'', which featured production by

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

and Ed Tuton. She released videos of the songs "32 Flavors" and "Crazy." Davis achieved a radio hit with the single "

32 Flavors "32 Flavors" is a song written and performed by Ani DiFranco. This song appears on her sixth studio album ''Not a Pretty Girl'', released in 1995. A variation of the song is featured on the movie soundtrack of the 1999 Canadian romantic comedy ''B ...

" from her debut album. The song is a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of a track written and previously recorded by

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influe ...

. ''Blame It on Me'' stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for seven weeks, peaking at No. 157 in February 1998 and reaching sales of over 240,000 in the United States. "Murder", also from ''Blame It on Me'', was sampled on

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

's '' Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter''. After a guest appearance on the 1999 soundtrack to ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as ...

'', Davis left Elektra and signed a single deal with

SME Records , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

. She released the single "Carry On" on this label, and the song was featured in a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

commercial for

Sony Electronics , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. Tired of major record labels, Davis went independent in 2005 and formed her own, label Tigress Records. She released a third album, '' Surrender Dorothy'', on this label, which featured the single "Wide Open." In 2006, Davis toured with

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and Brazilian music, including bo ...

for a couple of dates as a guest vocalist. In July 2017, Davis played 2 shows, one in Rochester, New York, and one in New York City. In May 2018, Davis released her long-awaited 4th studio album, ''Love Again''.

Discography

Albums

*'' Blame It on Me'' (September 23, 1997, No. 157 US) *'' Fortune Cookies'' (October 30, 2001) *'' Surrender Dorothy'' (February 22, 2005) *''Love Again'' (May 4, 2018)

Singles

References

External links

Alana Davis
official Web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Alana 1974 births Living people Elektra Records artists African-American guitarists African-American women singer-songwriters Singers from New York City Guitarists from New York City 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century African-American women singers Cleopatra Records artists Singer-songwriters from New York (state)