Pioneers of the London acid jazz scene, The Brand New Heavies are a British music institution whose unique mix of jazz, funk and soul has lit up the UK music scene for well over two decades. And now they are back with their first full studio album in over six years, Forward, featuring original vocal collaborator N’Dea Davenport and introducing new vocalist Dawn Joseph. Forward will be released on the 6th May on HeavyTone Recordings. The founding and ever-present trio of Jan Kincaid, Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Love Levy on drums/keyboards, guitar and bass respectively were influential in creating what became known as the Acid Jazz scene of the early 90’s. 16 top 40 singles and over 2 millions albums followed and they have since steered The Brand New Heavies into the new millennium, where they remain as influential and respected around the world as ever. The Heavies have in fact been a unique fixture of the British music scene for a quarter of a century. When asked about the secret of their longevity, Jan Kincaid said this: ‘There is something unique about the Brand New Heavies that has to do with the make-up and, at the same time, is greater than that. We’ve been together so long that we have the grounding and the history. We started as a live band and did it hard, just playing clubs, pubs, anywhere that would have us for a long time before we got a record deal. We weren’t just centred around a record, and that’s the way it should be.’