How Sticky Are You?

Strange it is when first meeting someone, never dreaming that one day it would manifest into something much more than a pleasant surprise. Such is the case with circumstances surrounding up and coming singer, LaVeda Davis. I was first introduced to La Veda’s mother in the mid 80’s, who was a colleague of one of my brothers working at an area vocational tech school in Miami. I vividly remember she telling me that her daughter was destined for stardom because she has an incredible voice. It was years later that I actually got a chance to witness and hear this unique talent, now all grown up still the chartreuse that she was labeled. La Veda, born in Miami, FL, realized her love of music at the age of 7 which subsequently blossomed into a creative spirit enhancing writing poetry and and putting music to her words. As it was, singing was a natural progressive move! Exposed to Leontyne Price by her father, she developed this hunger to sing opera first, then on to jazz and rhythm and blues. Featured in TRACE magazine's 1998's ‘Women in Music’ issue along with Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Erykah Badu, and Janet Jackson, claiming the number nine (#9) spot. Honing her craft and not being confined to only singing, La Veda uses spoken word to help develop her songwriting skills and craft. No stranger to travel for exposure, she took part in the Double Talk 3, a Hip-Hop & Rap/Poetry festival in Amsterdam, featuring Antonia Reed aka Bahamadia, a Philadelphia-born hip hop artist. La Veda has performed in major music cities, such as Washington D.C., New York City, Amsterdam, Paris and her native Miami; and has recorded with many national and international music personalities and producers for a healthy mix, including,Tricky, Hada Guldris, N'Dinga Gaba, Kimani WIlson, Charles Dockins, A.D. Cruze, Dwayne Jensen, CJ Burken, Undah Dub, Steve Paradise, Trevor Goodchilde, Kenny "The Human Orchestra" Muhammad, Nitewerx, The Vision and Element of Titanz Entertainment, Cudda Brown, Dwayne Bastiany, Richard Joseph, Nicholas Walker, Barrington Williams, LineNoise, 418, Daniel Pinks, Kavayah Wright, DJ Booman, DJ Timmy, Joan Pau Buil...as well and Dana Byrd, who has been featured as a collaborative lead vocalist on several of her previous recordings.

Opting to don only her first name for recognition, La Veda’s luxuriant voice, her deft, hummable hooks, and her individualistic lyrics are deliciously hard to forget. Her first solo album, “Sticky/Foreplay,” just released on Harlem Station Recordings, has the authoritative grooves you’d expect from someone who’s collaborated with many of the aforementioned artists among other luminaries— any music aficionado wouldn’t have a problem tuning in to an incredible voice to set any mood. Can good music create a mood for a melange to know that a singer has arrived? Sticky/Foreplay, answers that very question. It exudes with sexual innuendo with all the trimmings of an expected climax! Fully rounded with 18 tracks, this album straddles various musical genres, from Urban Soul fused with Jazz to R&B with Europeanesque undertones. The songs on this set tend to be monotonous in style, where perhaps inclusion of different cadences would’ve given it more of an eclectic mix for those looking for a rise in temperature. Despite it being thematic, her stylistic renderings are smooth and simmering as the vocals are expertly segued with the type of fresh tracks and drum/bass sequences that flavors this album, and defines its distinctive and unmistakeable melodic flavor.

In my opinion, the tunes that touched me more were the ones that lives up to the title of the album -- ‘Second Skin’, ‘Round And Round’, ‘I Love You’, and the sensuous ‘Strip Down’. I asked La Veda to share insight on influences that have shaped her sound, only because I needed to know where did the ambiance come from to record this unique mix, and she responded by saying, “My father exposed me early on to some of the most extraordinary artists, such as Johnny Hartman, Nina Simone, Nancy Wilson, Brooke Benton, John Coltrane, Shirley Bassey, Phyllis Hyman, Barry White, War, Santana, Barbara Streisand, Sade, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Nat King Cole, Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye...there is an elegance in the way they told their stories, how they phrased their notes and how their voices and music left an profound mark on me.” This is the perfect idiom to set the stage for sensuality to accentuate whispers to scream. Great job La Veda, you have truly arrived and your introduction here is complete. Buy this CD and know that foreplay will be needed to really set you flowing!