Neville Brothers – Interview with Aaron Neville

A look into the life of the Neville Brothers with
Charles Neville

I recently had the honor of talking with Charles Neville, one of the legendary four that make up the Neville Brothers. As he spoke, I became completely entranced by his voice, soothing and soft, the voice of a laid back gentlemen who naturally crisply pronounces each word. You figure it out; I know I couldnt, but I was captivated nonetheless. It was like I could feel him through his voice and his laughter. At times I felt as if he were letting me in on a secret, the way he would say something. I was on edge because I was so excited about getting to talk with him, but he quickly smoothed me over. Read on to find out more about this kind man, his music, and about the fantastic book the funky four have just released. To get the in-depth story on all of them, I suggest you check out the book, The Brothers. These men have lived like you wouldn’t believe. And even more impressive, they’ve lived to tell the tale.

Hows the weather in New Orleans. Ill bet its nice.

Oh, Im in Massachusetts and its cold.

Dont you live in New Orleans?

Yeah, well, thats where Im from, and I have a place in New Orleans also, but I moved up here three, three and a half years ago.

I just want to tell you, I love the Nevilles Valence Street.

Oh, okay, thank you.

I reviewed it when it was released and it was just, I mean, I didnt take it out of my cd player for a month.

(Charles laughs)

I get a new album I like and thats all I want to hear, and that one was phenomenal. The three songs I like most are “Mona Lisa”, “Dimming Of The Day”, and one that you wrote, “Until We Meet Again”, sung by your brother, Cyril. Also, I read your book and I was wondering how you guys got the format down for that?

Actually David Ritz whos the writer did that. What he did was meet with us over the period of a couple of years, at home or wherever he could catch up with us, and talk with his tape recorder on. Hes an author who specializes in autobiographies of artists and musicians. He did Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and a couple of others.

Did he interview you individually or together?

Individually. He talked to each of us separately.

I love how he put it together. The end of each of your excerpts is a lead in to the next brothers. Its like youre all contributing to a conversation. Theres such a flow about the book. Everyone in it is characterized so richly by you and your brothers. I was reading your fan site, and a fan who was at a book signing said she felt like the Neville brothers were right in her living room talking to her because of the way the book is written.

Another thing some fans have said is that it makes them feel like they really know us now.

Yes, your family, your background musically and culturally, is so rich. Its amazing. I was captivated by the people you knew and had contact with and how many of those people proved to be legendary. Then theres the dance team of your mother and uncle Jolly, your fathers musical tastes. You also present a cultural picture of society, like with racism and different aspects of that.

Yeah, the times we lived through, a few American eras, and thats reflected there just like its reflected in our music.

What comes through is that youre all really positive. Youre all talented, no one can deny that, but when you talk about each other, each one always puts the rest first.

Yeah, well, what we do musically is unique because the four of us do it together and we have such varied personal influences and tastes.

When did you form your own band, Charles Neville And Diversity?

Diversity, I think I started that in 1989. In 1989, 1990, I recorded the Charles Neville And Diversity cd. Since then its gone through many reincarnations, incarnations, because now Im using a quartet. Im not trying to do the big band stuff anymore. The real idea of Diversity was to combine people with really different musical backgrounds and different musical tastes and put them together and form this one thing called Diversity, so we had the members of the New Orleans Symphonic Orchestra and some really great jazz musicians get together.

Is it where youre the foundation and youre constantly rebuilding the band around yourself?

Well, no, originally the concept was, with the symphonic musicians and the jazz musicians, to play jazz to combine those elements in jazz, but now I have a quartet. When Im in New Orleans, I have three guys that I play with there, and when Im here I have three guys that I play with here, and I have other bands I play with as well. In fact, theres a cd thats going to be released soon on American Clave records, its entitled Deep Rumba II. The first Deep Rumba cd, I wasnt on that one, but its Latin/Afro-Cuban music on this cd I did. Theres a couple of guys from the Buena Vista Social Club as well as some really fantastic Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians. The band is based in New York. Originally, when I got in that band, it was called Jack Bruce And Kip Hanrahan. Jack Bruce played bass in the band Cream in the 60s, so I knew of him from that. I thought it was going to be some kind of rock and roll band. So I went to the first rehearsal and there were all of these Cubans and Puerto Rican guys and conga drums and timbales and two drummers and three bass players, I mean, a really strange combination. Jack Bruce wrote a lot of the songs, these really great Latin songs, and I was really surprised and amazed. It was such wonderful music. So, I played with them then. The first thing we did was a tour of Europe, and over the years since then, the band changes. Kip puts together a band for each project, and the last thing we did, I think it was in January, we went to Tokyo and did a week at the Blue Note. Jack Bruce wasnt with us. There were two woman singers, one who lives in Havana and one whos from Cuba but lives in New York, and there were two conga players and one timbale, two drummers, a bass player, and myself. It was a really different kind of musical combination. No piano, no guitar, no chordal instruments, and the music is really amazing. Some of what we did there is included in the recording. Its just amazing rhythms and melodies, amazing vocals. Its not like anything else.

When you write music with your brothers, how do you guys bring that all together?

Well, we do it in different ways. Sometimes one person will have just an idea. Maybe its a title and an idea to go with it, and theyll bring it in and say, This is what I have, this is what I see. Maybe This is what I have here, but I dont have music. I have a suggestion of a rhythm. And somebody else will contribute something and then suggest we try this sound or add these chords to it and it gets put together like that. Sometimes one of us will bring in a song thats totally done and say, Here it is. Heres how Id like for it to go. Lets see how it sounds. And then we do it.

Before Valence Street, I didnt know about all of you. People know your brother, Aaron, because of his duets with Linda Ronstadt and other recent stuff.

Right. He does the pop stuff and it gets played on the radio and he does videos and people see him on the tv, whereas what we do with the Neville Brothers is not mainstream. Its like a look at the history of American music, but American music is no longer really represented in the American media, only a really narrow band of the stuff, and it doesnt really reflect whats going on in music right now.

Right, just whats going to sell, and that doesnt really mean quality. Are you brothers planning on putting out another album any time soon?

Yeah, were going to start working on something probably early next year. Were thinking about it right now, coming up with ideas and trying to figure out what direction to take it in, but nothings really decided yet.

The sound on Valence Street really varies so much from song to song. Like from “Real Funk” to “Dimming Of The Day” to “Over Africa”, what goes on between those three is so different, the variety.

And also we did what used to be considered an old folk song, “If I Had A Hammer”. We funked it up and Neville-ized it. (laughs)

Is there any one of the brothers thats dominant in the band? Your book makes it sound as if you all play an equal part in everything.

And in the band, musically, we all play an equal part. I mean, Aaron, who has that very special voice and because of his notoriety and popularity, sometimes hell have a bigger part of the show.

I absolutely love “Mona Lisa”, the one you did with Wyclef. On your site I read about how you all first met Wyclef and how everything just seemed to flow. The really came through in the smoothness of the song. I cant believe that song wouldnt be brought more into the mainstream.

Yes, it was definitely that type of song.

Do you guys play any part in your website, nevillebrothers.com?

Yes. We check it out and respond. In fact, weve made friends by getting acquainted with fans through there and meeting them at the show.

I like how its set up where it has your group biography and information, but then it has individual sections about each of you. Not enough people know about you guys. I hope this book opens that up for them.

Im hoping the book gets enough attention so someone will be interested in doing a movie.

Wholl play you?

(laughs) Well, Denzel Washington.

That would really be something. (both laughing) You definitely have enough material. Something really funny in the book was about when you were in the Navy, this guy Johnson you knew. You said, Johnson was a beautiful brother from South Carolina. Rather than bitch about bathroom duty, hed turned it into an art form. Hed scrub commodes like they were precious jewels. He also invented a rope apparatus that he ingeniously tied to the long line of toilet lids so when the captain came in for inspection, Johnson was ready. With one flick of the wrist, my man snapped that rope, and like magic, every last lid would lift up at once I mean, those suckers would pop open as though they were smartly saluting the captain.

(both laughing) Oh, that was so funny. Hed pull that rope and, Wham!

Thats just an example of the way the books written. The story you all tell is absolutely vivid. I hope it does well.

Oh, right. Thanks. Ive read it a few times, and I really like it. (laughs)

(laughing) Oh, Im sure you do.

The great thing about it is Ive learned a lot about my brothers that I didnt know, and they said the same thing.

+ alissa shugats