| The Brand New Heavies | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ealing, London, England |
| Genres | Acid jazz, funk, jazz rap |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Acid Jazz, Delicious Vinyl, FFRR, Chrysalis UK, EDEL |
| Associated acts | N'Dea Davenport |
| Website | TheBrandNewHeavies.net |
| Members | |
| Jan Kincaid Simon Bartholomew Andrew Levy N'Dea Davenport |
|
| Past members | |
| Siedah Garrett Carleen Anderson Nicole Russo Sy Smith Jay Ella Ruth Ceri Evans |
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The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.
Contents |
The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International.[1]
The group came up with the Heavies name after signing their first record contract, borrowing from a liner note on a James Brown single declaring the artist "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk".[2] As The Brand New Heavies they gained a cult following in the London club scene and soon signed to Cooltempo as acid jazz replaced rare groove in clubs. The band issued a debut recording for Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz label in 1990 with Jay Ella Ruth as lead singer.[3]
A single, "Got to Give", came out on Cooltempo before the Brand New Heavies signed to Acid Jazz Records and released Brand New Heavies to critical acclaim. The band signed to a division of Chrysalis Records in the UK,[1] and American distribution was picked up by influential label Delicious Vinyl, and N'Dea Davenport (who had signed an artist development deal with Delicious Vinyl) joined the group. A revamped version of the first album with vocals by N'Dea Davenport was then released, and the singles "Dream Come True", "Never Stop" and "Stay This Way", all with Davenport on lead vocals, became hits on both sides of the Atlantic, with the latter becoming a music video directed by Douglas Gayeton that saw heavy rotation on MTV.
The group's appearance with MC Serch (formerly of 3rd Bass) and Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) at a performance in New York City, inspired the group to incorporate elements of hip hop music. Their next album was the critically acclaimed Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, which included collaborations with Guru of Gang Starr and The Pharcyde, among others, but lacked any female vocals.
While under management by Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildlife Entertainment, The Brand New Heavies released Brother Sister (1994) which was the last album for a while with N'Dea Davenport, who had left to complete her solo album (which she had put on hold to join the Heavies). The album spawned more singles, though one of them, a cover of Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis", was popular only in the UK because it was not included in the US version of the album.
Siedah Garrett joined the group for their next album, Shelter (1997). It contained the minor hit, the Carole King-penned song "You've Got a Friend" that was originally made famous by James Taylor. Again, though, this song did not appear on the US version of the album. The album also contained the hit "Sometimes". The remix of "Sometimes" included the rap vocals of Q-Tip.
The Brand New Heavies then released their greatest hits album, Trunk Funk - The Best of The Brand New Heavies (2000) with Carleen Anderson on vocals for some newly recorded songs, followed by the Japan only album We Won't Stop (2003) featuring a variety of vocalists and Allaboutthefunk (2004) featuring British singer Nicole Russo on vocals.
In April 2006, the Brand New Heavies reunited with N'Dea Davenport and former label Delicious Vinyl. A new album, Get Used to It was released on 27 June 2006 via Starbucks and more traditional music retail outlets. The album was recorded in New York and London; and the lead single "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" was issued in early May. The single was notable for being one of very few late releases to feature the trademarked A Tom Moulton Mix, as he had been asked to contribute remixes. Later that year, their song "Jump 'N' Move" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2006 computer animated feature film, Happy Feet, and the in-game soundtrack for 2004's NBA Live 2005 and 2009's NBA 2k10. The band toured at the end of 2006.
The Brand New Heavies released a 2 CD live album in October 2009 - Live In London and worked with Lancome on an ad campaign, resulting in the 2009 single "C'est Magnifique". There was talk of a follow-up album to Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, following the same concept of rap artists fronting the band, however nothing has materialized on that front to date. It is anticipated that a new studio album with N'Dea Davenport on vocals will be released in 2012.
| Band Member | Instrument | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Jan Kincaid (born 17 May 1966 in Ealing) |
drums, keyboards | 1985— |
| Simon Bartholomew (born 16 October 1965 in Ealing) |
guitar, vocals | 1985— |
| Andrew Levy (born 20 July 1966 in Ealing) |
bass, keyboards, writer, producer | 1985— |
| Lascelles Gordon | percussion, guitar | debut album (1991) |
| Jim Wellman | tenor sax, soprano sax, keyboards | debut album (1991) |
| N'Dea Davenport (born 6 May 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA) |
vocals | 1990–1995, 2005— |
| Ceri Evans | keyboards | 1985–1992 |
| Jay Ella Ruth | vocals | 1990 |
| Siedah Garrett (born 24 June 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA) |
vocals | 1997 |
| Carleen Anderson | vocals | 2000 |
| Nicole Russo | vocals | 2004 |
| Sy Smith | vocals | 2003 |
| Max Beesley (born 15 January 1971) |
live percussion, live keyboards |