N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band

the Brand New Heavies 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 H ...

and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz.

Career

Her diverse projects include collaborations with music producers and artists, such as

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

Louie Vega Luis Ferdinand Vega Jr. (born June 12, 1965), as known as "Little Louie" Vega, is an American DJ, record producer and Grammy Award winner remixer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is one half of the Masters at Work musical production team. Biograph ...

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of "Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internationa ...

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

’s

Jazzmatazz ''Jazzmatazz'' is a series of hip hop and jazz recordings from American rapper Guru. In a 2009 interview he reflected, "Back around '93—when I first came up with the ''Jazzmatazz'' concept—I was noticing how a lot of cats were digging in the ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American alternative rock singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first se ...

Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

, and

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provoc ...

. 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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, en route to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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 Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...

, who recommended her to a DJ friend at new upstart label

Delicious Vinyl Delicious Vinyl is an American independent record label founded by Matt Dike and Michael Ross in 1987 and based in Los Angeles, California. History Michael Ross was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles when he met Matt Dike, a ...

. Eurythmics member and producer Dave Stewart offered Davenport a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

a year prior when introduced through a collaboration with

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

and

, 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 Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

label

Acid Jazz Records Acid Jazz Records is a record label based in East London formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of jazz music for which it is most famously known for producing. Background The la ...

, struck a deal with

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

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 ''Jazzmatazz Volume 1 (An Experimental Fusion of Hip-Hop and Jazz)'' is the debut solo studio album by American hip hop recording artist Guru (rapper), Guru. It was released on May 18, 1993 through Chrysalis Records. Recording sessions took place ...

'', with

. In 1995, Davenport left the group citing irreconcilable differences, returning to the US and choosing

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

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 Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

, resulted in the completion of her debut solo effort as producer, all except for four songs, produced by

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. While her association with Delicious Vinyl was dissolving, Davenport's project was picked up by the newly formed label owned by Sir

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

. In 1998, her self-titled debut solo recording on

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

was released. She toured extensively in support of the album, around Europe, North America and Australia and with the concert series

Lilith Fair Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 ...

. 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.

Discography

;Solo album * ''

N'Dea Davenport N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) 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. Career He ...

'' (1998) ;The Brand New Heavies albums * ''

The Brand New Heavies 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 H ...

'' (1990) * ''

Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 ''Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1'' is a 1992 studio album by the Brand New Heavies. It includes collaborations with Main Source, Gang Starr, Grand Puba, Masta Ace, Jamalski, Kool G. Rap, Black Sheep (duo), Black Sheep, Ed O.G., Tiger (musician), ...

'' (1992) * ''

Brother Sister ''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 Amer ...

'' (1994) * '' Get Used to It'' (2006)

References

External links

Brand New Heavies
– official site * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, N'dea 1966 births 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Acid jazz musicians African-American women singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American funk singers American sopranos American soul singers Delicious Vinyl artists Living people Musicians from Atlanta The Brand New Heavies members 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers