REVIEW: Brand New Heavies, In Tha Beginning... (Music Club)
- Joann D. Ball
In Tha Beginning... by The Brand New Heavies is a testament to the fact that the band was critical to the development of acid jazz as a music genre. Available for the first time in the US, In Tha Beginning... features the original nine studio tracks from the band's UK-only eponymous debut in their original form and order, plus three additional live cuts. Live versions of the instrumental lead track "Bnh" and the hip-hop influenced "Gimme One of Those" from the debut were recorded in Japan along with the song "Mr. Tanaka," which completes the almost hour-long release.
Emerging in Britain in the late '80s, The Brand New Heavies played such a fresh and innovative blend of funk, jazz, soul and hip-hop that it quickly became an underground phenomenon in the country. The band was eventually so closely identified with the UK record label Acid Jazz to which it was signed that the entire sound and scene which the band pioneered became known as acid jazz. While The Brand New Heavies' groundbreaking 1989 debut was a huge hit in Britain and ignited an international acid jazz movement, the record in its original form was never released in the United States. And by the time of the band's American debut (also titled The Brand New Heavies) on Delicious Vinyl in 1992, The Brand New Heavies had already changed in composition and focus.
The American release is particularly significant because it showcased the new song "Never Stop" among the original nine songs. With the track listing radically refigured by the inclusion of the American R&B Top 10 hit, the song's success also spotlighted new lead singer N'Dea Davenport. Subsequently, the band's emphasis shifted from instrumentals to vocals and the band also moved beyond its acid jazz foundations. Both Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1 from 1992, which featured a who's who of critically acclaimed rap performers, and the 1994 follow-up Brother Sister had a profound influence on trends in urban soul and hip-hop that can still be heard today. The eventual development of The Brand New Heavies beyond its incredible roots, however, makes In Tha Beginning an even more essential reissue.
