Written by | Ray Cornelius
One of my favorite music groups of all time—The Brand New Heavies— played Atlanta’s Buckhead Theatre Saturday night before heading to the New Orleans’ ESSENCE Festival on Sunday. The British soul-funk-jazz fusion band featuring Simone Bartholomew, Andrew Love Levy and ATL’s own N’Dea Davenport rocked the house last night with 90-minutes of all their hits.
The show opened with one of Janelle Monae‘s new groups, All Cows Eat Grass, who got the crowd moving with their tune, “Cool as Hell.” Immediately following their set was The Brand New Heavies, who haven’t performed together in Atlanta in over nine-years. As a matter of fact, the group’s last performance was when the Buckhead Theatre was called the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre.
They opened the show with my personal favorite “Never Stop,” as well as “Dream on Dreamer,” “Midnight at the Oasis,” “Sometimes” and “Spend Sometime.” Following that was another personal favorite, “Brother Sister,” which was composed by Davenport and was based on the advice her parents gave her. She wrote the song in honor of them after moving to London during the mid-90s. After that, they performed such crowd favorites as “Dream Come True,” “Stay This Way” and “You Are the Universe.”
A number of Atlanta notables were in attendance to see the group including Atlanta City Councilman, Kwanza Hall, who brought greetings at the beginning of the show, “Living Single” actor and singer T.C. Carson, WCLK 91.9 morning announcer Morris Baxter, WABE 90.1 “Closer Look” host Rose Scott, jazz musician Gary Motley, Funk Jazz Kafe creator Jason Orr, and other acid jazz enthusiasts.
Check out more photos below and click here to listen to N’Dea Davenport’s ‘s 20-minute interview with WCLk’s Jamal Ahmad. During the interview, Davenport talks candidly about how she joined the group, how she composed the smash hit, “Brother Sister” and what she’s currently working on now. The Brand New Heavies was presented by Next Level Events as part of their Jazz and Soul Music Series.
Jamal Ahmad, Rose Scott and Ken Rye
Next Level Events CEO Craig Garrett (center) & T.C. Carson (right) and friends
WCLK 91.9’s Jamal Ahmad hosted the show
N’Dea Davenport is actually the second lead singer of the group but perhaps the most well known…
Andrew Love Levy
Simone Bartholomew
N’Dea!!!!
N’Dea Davenport receiving flowers following the performance
Following the show was a private meet and greet
Rose Scott with N’Dea Davenport
The Brand New Heavies with Next Level’s Aalyah Duncan and Craig Garrett
Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com
