''N'Dea Davenport'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter

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. Early life ...

. It was released on June 30, 1998, by

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, ...

and

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music and V2 Benelux; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022 (as part of larger PIAS 49% ...

.N'Dea Davenport - N'Dea Davenport album
AllMusic. Retrieved on May 2, 2025 Intended to be recorded shortly after Davenport signed to Delicious Vinyl in 1989, recording sessions were halted after she joined the Brand New Heavies in 1990. Co-produced by

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, and film producer from Columbus, Georgia. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfir ...

and Paul Powell, the album incorporated elements of R&B,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

Background and development

In 1989, Davenport secured a recording contract with

through her musical collaborations with their roster of artists including

Tone Loc Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), best known by his stage name Tone Lōc (), is an American rapper and actor. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs " Wild Thing" and " Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nominated for a Gr ...

and

Def Jef Def Jef is the stage name of Jeffrey Fortson (born September 27, 1970), an American alternative hip hop musician and rapper of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was born in Harlem, New York City. His debut album was 1989's '' Just a Poet wi ...

.N'Dea Davenport AllMusic Biography
AllMusic. Retrieved on May 2, 2025 Recording sessions for Davenport's album were halted when label-mates and English band

The Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies are an English band formed in 1985, consisting of Simon Bartholomew, Andrew Levy, and Jan Kincaid. After the addition of N'Dea Davenport in 1990, the group experienced mainstream success and pioneered a new genre called a ...

were in need of a female lead vocalist to replace Jaye Ella Ruth, who had left. At the recommendation of

record label owners

Matt Dike Matthew William Dike (December 2, 1961 – January 16, 2018) was an American music executive, record producer, and DJ. He co-founded the hip-hop record label Delicious Vinyl in 1987. In the 1980s, Dike was artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's studio as ...

and Michael Ross, The Brand New Heavies added Davenport to their lineup. The Brand New Heavies released a re-recorded version of their debut self-titled album which featured Davenport's vocals. The album became the band's first charting album and peaked at number twenty-four on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and earned a silver-certification by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI).Brand New Heavies Official Chart History
Official Charts. Retrieved on 20 July 2024 The band reissued their singles; "Dream Come True", "Stay This Way", and " Don't Let It Go to Your Head" with Davenport's vocals, all of which peaked in the top forty on the UK Singles Chart. The band's success continued with the release of their third studio album ''

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 Am ...

'' in 1994, which peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and earned platinum-certification by the BPI. The album spawned the single " Dream On Dreamer" which became crossover hit, peaking within the top twenty on several international music charts. By late 1995, Davenport left the group due to creative differences and personal conflicts with the group. In 1997, Davenport's contract with Delicious Vinyl was bought out by

Recording and production

N'Dea Davenport began recording her album in 1996. She worked with American music producer and songwriter

at Riversound Studios in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Austin originally wanted to produce the entire album, but ultimately produced only four songs for the album, two of which he co-wrote with Davenport. She also co-produced a song "Placement for the Baby" with Paul Powell. She recorded and produced the remainder of the album at Skip Sailor Studios (

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

), Natoma Studios (

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

), and Woodland Studios (

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

). Davenport played various instruments on the album including

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

, and

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

''N'Dea Davenport'' incorporates elements of R&B,

, and

Release and promotion

The album was originally scheduled to be released in late 1997 but was pushed back due to

and its joint venture company experiencing bankruptcy. In collaboration with

released ''N'Dea Davenport'' on June 30, 1998. Most copies were pressed by V2 Records. By 2001, the album had gone

out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...

after V2 Records dissolved.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's William Cooper praised Davenport's standout performance and solo effort on the album. He commented: "Though much of her work with the Brand New Heavies was brilliant, ''N'Dea Davenport'' is more daring and diverse, and no less enjoyable. Fans of the Brand New Heavies' flashy acid jazz stylings will no doubt be surprised with N'Dea Davenport's more organic approach, but the album will quickly win them over. ''N'Dea Davenport'' is a fine debut from an incredibly talented and inspired performer." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that Davenport's "voice is full of light and shade, her singing unsurpassably elegant."

Commercial performance

''N'Dea Davenport'' debuted at number fifty-six on the US

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart in the week of July 18, 1998. The following week, the album fell to number seventy. The album continued to drop and fell to number eighty-four in its third week. The album fell to the hundredth position in its fifth and final week on the charts. ''N'Dea Davenport'' peaked higher on the

Top Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart, where it debuted at number fourteen.

Track listing

# "Whatever You Want" (N'Dea Davenport, Glen Patscha) – 4:31 # "Underneath a Red Moon" (Davenport, Colin Wolfe) – 4:16 # "Save Your Love for Me" (Davenport, Damon Malone) – 4:07 # "When the Night Falls" (Davenport, Patscha) – 4:50 # "Bring It On" (Davenport,

Brady Blade Brady L Blade Jr (born 1965 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer. He is the son of Dorothy and Pastor Brady Blade Sr. (Pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana). ...

, Wolfe) – 4:22 # "No Never Again" (Davenport, Austin) – 5:14 # "In Wonder" (Davenport) – 4:06 # "Bullshittin'" (Davenport, Blade) – 3:34 # "Real Life" (Davenport, Daniel Lanois) – 3:06; feat.

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

# " Old Man" (

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

) – 4:00 # "Placement for the Baby" (Davenport, Paul Powell) – 6:25 # "Oh Mother Earth (Embrace)" (Davenport, Austin) – 3:52 # "Getaway" (Davenport) – 3:30; featuring the

Rebirth Brass Band The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins,Skelly, RichardAllMusic Profile Retrieved 2013-02-9 and classmates from Joseph S. Cla ...

* ''Additional track on double LP release:'' :14. "Bullshittin' (B.S.'n...)" (Davenport, Blade, Mos Def) – 4:18; featuring

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

Personnel

*N'Dea Davenport – vocals, grand piano, Omnichord, tambourine *

Doyle Bramhall II Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall. Early life Bramhall was born ...

, Tomi Martin,

Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...

– electric guitar *James LeBlanc – electric guitar, steel guitar *Paul Powell – guitar, synthesizer, drums *Derwin Perkins – rhythm guitar *Al Berry,

Daryl Johnson Daryl E. Johnson (August 11, 1946 – November 25, 2023) was an American professional football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a m ...

, Robby Emerson – bass guitar *Colin Wolfe – bass guitar, keyboards *Glenn Patscha,

, Duane Dupry – keyboards *Tom Knight,

– drums *E.J. Rodriguez – percussion *Paul Shapiro – saxophone, flute *Darrell Mims – flute *Dan Levine – trombone *Bob Brockmann – flugelhorn *Eric Freidlander – cello *Jay Dee – remix on "Bullshittin'"

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1998 debut albums N'Dea Davenport albums Albums produced by Dallas Austin Albums produced by Daniel Lanois V2 Records albums