N'Dea Davenport

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N'Dea Davenport
Born May 6, 1966
Origin Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genre(s) funk, dance pop, R&B, Hip hop, New jack swing, soul, acid jazz
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s) vocals, drummer
Years active 1988-present
Label(s) Delicious Vinyl
V2 Records
Dozer Records
Associated acts Brand New Heavies
Website NDeaDavenport.com

N'Dea Davenport (May 6, 1966) is a Grammy Award-nominated American R&B/soul singer best known for her role in the Brand New Heavies, a British funk/R&B band, a group responsible for the Acid Jazz wave in the early 90s.

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[edit] Biography

N'Dea 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. N'dea's soaring and gritty vocals can be heard on "Cheeba Cheeba", a song from Tone's debut Loc'd After Dark. N'Dea's 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 N'Dea 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, N'Dea moved to London, England.

Cover of the 1998 single "Underneath A Red Moon"
Cover of the 1998 single "Underneath A Red Moon"

The Heavies, with N'Dea 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".

With N'Dea in place as lead vocalist, and subsequent to the first United States release of their album, The Heavies went from underground novelty to headliner in less than a year. The instrumental powerhouse served as a perfect vehicle for N'Dea, and Jan Kincaid's knack for hit songwriting was their secret weapon. It was arguably Davenport's charisma and dynamic vocals that provided the needed element for The Brand New Heavies to find a wider audience.

cover of Davenport's debut self-titled album, now an out-of-print rarity since its initial release in 1998.
cover of Davenport's debut self-titled album, now an out-of-print rarity since its initial release in 1998.

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 N'Dea 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 "Bullsh*ttin". The latter was released with remixes that featured a guest rap by Mos Def for radio. N'Dea 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] N'Dea 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, N'Dea, who had lived in New Orleans since 1995, released the apparently Hurricane Katrina-inspired "One Day My Love" on Peace Bisquit/ Curvve Recordings in April 2006. N'Dea had sold her property in New Orleans just 3 months before the storm struck in Oct. of 2005.[3] To date, the song has peaked at #23 on the Billboard Dance Charts. The single was also released in the UK in 2007 with new/different mixes.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Album

N'Dea Davenport
Studio album by N'Dea Davenport
Released June 30, 1998
Genre R&B/Alternative
Length 55:25
Label V2 Records
Producer Dallas Austin, N'Dea Davenport
  • N'Dea Davenport (V2, 1998)
    (Peaked at #56 on Billboard's R&B Album Charts)[4]
  1. Whatever You Want
  2. Underneath A Red Moon
  3. Save Your Love For Me
  4. When The Night Falls
  5. Bring It On
  6. No Never Again
  7. In Wonder
  8. Bullshittin'
  9. Real Life
  10. Old Man
  11. Placement For The Baby
  12. Oh Mother Earth (Embrace)
  13. Getaway

[edit] Singles

  • "Trust Me" (Guru featuring N'Dea Davenport) (Delicious Vinyl, 1993)
  • "Bring It On" (V2, 1998) (US R&B #75) [5]
  • "Bullshittin" (V2, 1998)
  • "Underneath A Red Moon" (V2, 1999)
  • "Whatever You Want" (V2, 1999)
  • "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)
"You Can't Change Me"
©2001 Defected
  1. You Can't Change Me (Radio Edit)
  2. You Can't Change Me (Chocolate Puma Club Mix) - 8:45
  3. You Can't Change Me (Harry Choo Choo Romero Club Mix) - 8:47
  4. You Can't Change Me (Original Mix) - 7:19
  5. Another Chance (Original Mix)
"One Day My Love"

©2006 Peace Bisquit/Curvve Recordings

  1. One Day My Love (Soulfeast Mix) - 7:37
  2. One Day My Love (Craig C. Soul Shelter Mix) - 7:55
  3. One Day My Love (D. Ramirez Electrofunk Mix) - 6:50
  4. One Day My Love (Chris Micali Remix) - 7:56
  5. One Day My Love (Troia and Lovesky Remix) - 7:38
  6. One Day My Love (Automagic Remix) - 6:19
  7. One Day My Love (GoodandEvil Back In The Day Mix) - 6:27
  8. One Day My Love (Levon Vincent Bare Essentials Mix) - 7:49
  9. One Day My Love (Steve Travolta mix) - 9:12
  10. One Day My Love (Original Dj Tool) - 6:08
  11. One Day My Love (Craig C.Dub) - 7:55
  12. One Day My Love (D. Ramirez Dub) - 7:19
  13. One Day My Love (Chris Micali Dub) - 7:56
  14. One Day My Love (Troia and Lovesky Dub) - 7:38

DOZER RECORDS UK RELEASE 2007:
©2006/7 Dozer Records/Peace Bisquit/Curvve Recordings

  1. One Day My Love (Paul Jackson Version Excursion)
  2. One Day My Love (D.Ramirez Electrofunk Mix)
  3. One Day My Love (D.Ramirez Dub)
  4. One Day My Love (Original Mix)
  5. One Day My Love (Liquid Kids St Valentines Day Vocal)

[edit] Guest Appearances

  • DJ Spinna: "Where's Your Love (feat. N'Dea Davenport)" from Intergalactic Soul (Shanachie, 2006)
  • Sly & Robbie: "For The Living (feat. N'Dea Davenport)" from Version Born (Palm Beats, 2004)[7]
  • Wax Poetic: "Sea Graass (feat. N'Dea Davenport)" from Nublu Sesions (Palm Beats, 2003)[8]
  • Dave Sereny: "Take This Ride (feat. N'Dea Davenport & Ladybug Mecca)" from Take This Ride (nuGroove Records, 2007)
  • Everlast: "Love For Real (feat. N'Dea Davenport)" & "One and the Same (feat. N'Dea Davenport)" from Eat At Whitey's (Tommy Boy Records, 2000)

[edit] 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.
  • N'Dea 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.
  • N'dea'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.
  • N'Dea'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.
  • N'Dea is also a drummer.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hammer, Steve. Interview: Simon Bartholomew.
  2. ^ Roger Sanchez: "You Can't Change Me" (CD Single). Amazon.com.
  3. ^ a b Murray, Bill (August 1, 2006). An interview with the Brand New Heavies — Brand New Heavies on Get Used To It. Remix Magazine.
  4. ^ N'Dea Davenport Albums Billboard Chart History. Billboard.
  5. ^ N'Dea Davenport Singles. Billboard.com.
  6. ^ Roger Sanchez: "You Can't Change Me" (UK Vinyl)).
  7. ^ eMusic: Sly & Robbie: Version Born
  8. ^ eMusic: Wax Poetic: Nublu Sessions

[edit] External links