Representative Songs: "Bring It On," "Whatever You Want," "When the Night Falls"
Biography
N'Dea Davenport is best-known for the four years she spent with the Brand New Heavies, a predominantly British, London-based retro-soul/funk outfit that was quite popular in Great Britain in the '90s, but recalled '70s favorites like Tower of Power, the Average White Band, Earth, Wind & Fire and Rufus & Chaka Khan. Because Davenport has been closely identified with the United Kingdom's R&B scene, she has often been compared to British R&B artists like Mica Paris, Lisa Stansfield, and Caron Wheeler (formerly of Soul II Soul). But unlike those artists, Davenport didn't grow up in England -- or anywhere else in the U.K. -- she is actually an American singer who was born and raised in Atlanta, where she was influenced by American soul goddesses like Chaka Khan, Teena Marie, Minnie Riperton, and Deniece Williams, among others. As a young adult, Davenport moved to Los Angeles in the '80s -- and that was where she met Michael C. Ross and Matt Dike, the owners of Delicious Vinyl Records. In the late '80s, the company (which had a distribution deal with Island) was earning a reputation as a West Coast hip-hop label thanks to hits by L.A.-based rappers Tone-Loc ("Wild Thing," "Funky Cold Medina") and Young MC ("Bust a Move"), but Delicious Vinyl didn't want to be an all-rap label -- they were also interested in R&B and rock, and one of the R&B acts that excited them was the Brand New Heavies (who had been around the London scene since 1985). After the departure of singer Jay Ella Ruth in the late '80s, the Brand New Heavies needed a new female lead vocalist -- and Delicious Vinyl recommended Davenport for the position. After accepting the offer and joining the Brand New Heavies in 1990, Davenport moved to London and was prominently featured on the band's self-titled debut album (which Delicious Vinyl released in the United States in 1991). "Dream Come True," "Never Stop," and "Stay This Way" -- all from that album -- featured Davenport on lead vocals and became hit singles in the U.K., and she went on to appear on the Brand New Heavies' Brother Sister album (also on Delicious Vinyl) in 1994. But after that, Davenport left the band to pursue a solo career -- something she had been wanting to pursue all along -- and when the Brand New Heavies recorded Shelter for Delicious Vinyl in 1997, Siedah Garrett (an American singer who was known for her work with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones) served as their female lead singer. Davenport's first solo album, a self-titled release, came out on the V2 label in 1998; "Bring It On," "Bullshittin'," and "Underneath a Red Moon" were all released as singles. The late '90s found Davenport touring extensively as a solo artist; her solo tours offered a variety of Brand New Heavies favorites and material from her first album. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Davenport was born in Atlanta, Georgia but moved to Los Angeles with a "one way ticket" and actually found success. She came to the attention of newly-formed Delicious Vinyl records, who signed her to an artist development deal and immediately put her to work with label-mate Tone-Loc, who was having some success with the Young MC-penned, Van Halen-sampling "Wild Thing", a 1989 pop and rap smash hit. Davenport's vocals can be heard on "Cheeba Cheeba", a song from Tone's debut Loc'd After Dark. Her other session work in this period would include singing for Malcolm McLaren on his Waltz Darling album, where she was able to display her particular skills on "Algernon's Simply Awfully Good at Algebra" The esoteric funk ditty featured Davenport in the lead vocal and was coproduced by Bootsy Collins of Parliament/Funkadelic. Further stints as background vocalist (for Madonna, among others) quickly yielded an offer to join an up-and-coming English band spearheading the acid jazz movement. After joining The Brand New Heavies (who had signed with Delicious Vinyl for North America) in 1990, she moved to London, England.
The Heavies, with Davenport as lead vocalist, recorded two albums together. Their self-titled debut yielded hits "Dream Come True", "Stay This Way", and "Never Stop". Their 1994 follow-up Brother Sister had considerable hits in "Dream On Dreamer", written by N'Dea and superproducer Dallas Austin, and the soulful and inspirational title track "Brother Sister".
Though her solo aspirations were postponed to join the Heavies,[1] she tasted moderate success in 1993 being featured on "Trust Me", a collaboration with rapper Guru. She departed from the band in 1994 to pursue a solo career after the release of Brother Sister. Her critically acclaimed solo debut album was produced in part by Dallas Austin and Davenport herself. The self-titled album was released June 30, 1998 on V2 Records. Several singles were culled from the album internationally including "Whatever You Want", "Underneath A Red Moon", "Bring It On" and "Bullshittin". The latter was released with remixes that featured a guest rap by Mos Def for radio. Davenport would continue to work on the odd project here and there, but the next few years would be relatively quiet on her career front.
Briefly emerging for 2001's Roger Sanchez/Armand Van Helden's "You Can't Change Me",[2] Davenport rejoined the Brand New Heavies in April 2006 to record the reunion album Get Used To It released in June 2006 on the band's alma mater label Delicious Vinyl. Most recently, Davenport, who had lived in New Orleans since 1995,[citation needed] released the apparently Hurricane Katrina-inspired "One Day My Love" on Peace Bisquit/Curvve Recordings in April 2006. She had sold her property in New Orleans just 3 months before the storm struck in August 2005.[3] The song has peaked at #23 on the Billboard Dance Charts. The single was also released in the UK in 2007.
"You Can't Change Me" (Roger Sanchez feat. Armand Van Helden & N'Dea Davenport) (Defected, 2001)[6]
"One Day My Love" (Peace Bisquit/Curvve, 2006)
Additional information
The "Acid Jazz" label applied to The Brand New Heavies music was coined by British record executive Gilles Peterson, perhaps in hopes that he could keep interest in the music on a par with the then-ubiquitous Acid House music. The musical style was patterned after an admiration for 1970s funk ranging from James Brown to Rufus and the Average White Band. Peterson named his fledgling label Acid Jazz Records as well, and the Heavies recorded for this label in the United Kingdom.
Davenport recut the vocal track on "Never Stop" "Stay This Way", and "Dream Come True" after Jaye Ella Ruth (the band's prior lead vocalist and co-writer) had ceased to be a member of the group, but preceding the major release of these recordings. Ruth's vocals in comparison are noticeably thin and do not display the range Davenport would exhibit on her recordings.
Davenport's participation in sessions for both Malcolm McLaren's Waltz Darling and Madonna's I'm Breathless provide a curious link between "Deep in Vogue" and "Vogue" respectively. Madonna's originality has been contested vis-a-vis these two songs.
Davenport provides backing vocals on the November 2006 Robbie Williams single Lovelight, a cover of a Lewis Taylor song. Fellow Brand New Heavies member Andrew Levy provides bass.
Davenport's "Save Your Love For Me" is a cover of a song originally performed by Nancy Wilson. Wilson's original song appears on an album of the same name.
