The Neville Brothers

[Flower]

I thought that I had started a Neville Brothers thread many months ago but I can't find it ... Here is what happened tonight at the New Orleans Jazz Festival ....

Neville Brothers, Radiators and more filled the final 90 minutes of the New Orleans Jazz Fest

By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune
May 02, 2010, 9:22PM

With the precise timing of a Willie Green strike on a splash cymbal, the skies over the Fair Grounds opened 10 minutes after the final notes of the Neville Brothers' "One Love" closed out the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest.

Gray skies and intermittent drizzle Sunday finally gave way to a hard rain. The message was the same as when the police march down Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras at midnight: Time to go home.

After Saturday's vast crowd for Pearl Jam, Sunday felt a bit like the morning after. But as a march around the Fair Grounds track made clear, the final 90 minutes contained a full day's worth of music and moments.

The Neville Brothers presented themselves at the Acura Stage as a relatively streamlined unit consisting of the four brothers - Art, Aaron, Charles and Cyril - and a backing guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and drummer, the aforementioned "Mean" Willie Green. In recent weeks, they were even more svelte: Cyril Neville missed a recent run of Neville Brothers concerts to tour as Galactic's guest vocalist instead.

Cyril was back in the fold Sunday; his soul-stirrer voice and percussion are an integral part of the Neville equation. Brother Art's voice was not at full strength on "Mojo Hannah," even as his touch on the keyboards was as light and funky as ever.

Brother Aaron presided over a knowing "Hey Little Schoolgirl" and sent a wave of good vibes over the field with "A Change Is Gonna Come." A sing-song "Hey Pocky Way" segued into "Fiyo on the Bayou," all of it squarely in the pocket.

Walking toward the Congo Square Stage, the Nevilles' "Fiyo" gave way to Frankie Beverly and Maze as they basked in "Golden Time of Day." It was just as sunny on an unrelentingly gray day.

Continuing on to the Gentilly Stage, the Radiators locked into "Where Was You At." Perhaps inspired by guitar hero Jack White's presence on the same stage moments earlier with the Dead Weather, the Rads' Dave Malone and Camile Baudoin sparred and tore off aggressive riffs in tandem. Drummer Frank Bua was all smiles as he pushed them along, abetted by guest percussionist Michael Skinkus. Sometimes it takes hearing the Rads on a big stage - and watching their movements on a big screen - to remember how potent a band they are.

Moving along to Fais Do-Do, Richie Havens sang "you are so beautiful to me," strumming an acoustic as an accomplice spiked the song with twangy licks on an electric.

At an overflowing Blues Tent, B.B. King introduced "The Thrill Is Gone" with a Cialis endorsement. Next door in the Jazz Tent, Louisiana drummer Brian Blade, backing sax legend Wayne Shorter, was as much fun to watch as listen to. His enthusiasm for the music is contagious.

Completing the circle back at the Neville Brothers, they cruised through a medley of "Indian Red," "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "I'll Fly Away," touching on the gospel and Mardi Gras Indian roots of what they do.

Burnished by Art's church keyboard, Aaron lofted the traditional "Amazing Grace" benediction, followed by "One Love." Moments later, the rain came down.

Jazz Fest producer/director Quint Davis, as usual, had the final word.
"You can try to drown us, and you can pour oil all over us," he said. "But the soul of this city lives on in its music."

And at Jazz Fest.

 

[Flower]

I even haunted the Graveyard this morning for the "missing" Neville Brothers thread ... Here's a new one ~

The Neville Brothers


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and Soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

History
The group dates back to 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (b. 1937), Charles (b. 1938), Aaron (b. 1941), and Cyril (b. 1948) got together to take part in the recording session of The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a Mardi Gras Indian group led by their uncle Big Chief Jolly.

This experience lead them to form the group the following year. Their debut album was released from Capitol Records in 1978.

In 1988, the group released Uptown from EMI featuring guests including Branford Marsalis, Keith Richards and Carlos Santana. The following year saw the release of Yellow Moon from A&M Records produced by Daniel Lanois. The track "Healing Chant" from that album won best pop instrumental performance of the Grammy Awards.

Due to the health problems of Art Neville, the band kept low profile in the late 1990s onto the early 2000s, however, they made a comeback in 2004 with album Walkin' In The Shadow Of Life from Back Porch Records, their first newly recorded effort in 5 years.

All brothers except Charles who lived in Massachusetts, had been living in New Orleans, but suffering damages from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Cyril and Aaron moved out of the city afterwards. They had not been performing in New Orleans since Katrina hit the city, however, they finally returned to perform there at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2008, at the closing spot which had been reserved for them for years.

Ivan Neville, Aaron's son on keyboards plays with the band off and on in the recent years

This is their official website ...


I have and recommend this album ...

 

[Flower]

 

[Flower]

 

[LG]

I'll look and see if I can find one, but I don't remember seeing a thread for them Flower....

 

[Hepcat]

Here's a fabulous Aaron Neville tune:



***:

 

[Flower]

Charles Neville

Charles, the second oldest Neville brother, has the most diverse musical background. His experience on saxophone has included rhythm & blues, funk, jazz, be-bop, popular and even American Indian music. He cites as influences Louis Jordan, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Professor Longhair. He is also the only brother that lived away from New Orleans for long periods of time, making places like New York, Memphis and Oregon his home.

Always exposed to music in the Neville household, Charles started playing saxophone before he reached his teens. At the age of 12, he joined the band at school. He and his brother Art formed a band called Turquoise while teenagers. As did brothers Art and Aaron, Charles also played briefly with the Hawketts. By the time he was 15, he had quit school, and was on the road with Gene Franklin & the Houserockers - part of a traveling variety show.

After his road tour, Charles returned to New Orleans, where he had the good fortune to play in the house band of the Dew Drop Inn. In the 1950s, the Dew Drop was a major venue for nationally known musicians and local New Orleans talent, and the experience left a lasting impression on Charles. From 1954 to 1956, Charles was on the road backing rhythm & blues greats like Johnny Ace, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Big Maybelle, James Brown, B.B. King, Bobby Bland and Ray Charles. Not ignoring his hometown, he also played saxophone behind Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Ernie K-Doe and Huey "Piano" Smith.

Perhaps inspired by stories of foreign ports told by their father and uncle, who were both in the merchant marine, Charles and brother Art both joined the Navy. Charles stayed about two years, from 1956 to 1958. Instead of exotic foreign ports, Charles was assigned the duties of aviation mechanic in Memphis. Relying on his skills as a musician, he got a job in the house band of a local club, and became friends with B.B. King.

After his experience in the service, Charles returned to New Orleans where he enrolled in Southern University. Music and the road were too great a enticement, and Charles returned to the touring musicians' life. Besides being exposed to various musical styles and cultures of different cities while on tour, young Charles was introduced to the darker side of life. He resorted to shoplifting to support a heroin habit, and served a couple of short jail terms. Back in Louisiana, he was arrested for possession of two marijuana joints, and given the stiff sentence of five years in the infamous Angola prison. Released after three and one-half years, and disgusted with the racist attitudes in the south, Charles left for New York City.

Restarting his musical career, he played various gigs in New York, and some road trips, backing people like Johnny Taylor, Clarence Carter and O.V. Wright. In 1972, brothers Aaron and Cyril had formed a group called the Soul Machine, and took their act to New York where they joined-up with Charles. The three of them played various places around the city, with Charles on sax, Aaron on piano and Cyril on drums. At one point, they started working on Mardi Gras Indian songs they had learned from their uncle, Big Chief Jolly, and even called themselves the Wild Tchoupitoulas. By 1976, Art, Aaron and Cyril were all in New Orleans, where Big Chief Jolly wanted his nephews to make a record of Mardi Gras Indian songs. Charles returned to work on the album, making it the first time all of the brothers worked together on a project. The Wild Tchoupitoulas album was the beginning of the Neville Brothers as a group.

On his own, Charles has played and recorded with Ramsey McLean & the Survivors, which featured Charles' daughter Charmaine on vocals. In 1994, he recorded and played with the American Indian group called Songcatchers. He also formed his own group called Diversity, which features a mixture of jazz and classical musicians. In 1991, Charles Neville & Diversity released their first recording. Drawing from his experiences at the Dew Drop Inn, Charles conceived and arranged the music for a musical called Shangri-La.

- George C. Gerhold

 

[Flower]

 

[Flower]

 

[Hepcat]

I saw the Neville Brothers at a free festival at Harbourfront about four years ago and I was very much impressed.