Charles Neville might have been spotted on the trolley St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans at dawn, where he was practicing T’ai Chi. The family’s keeper for the horn was the Neville Brother, who is best known for his quest for Eastern spiritual knowledge. His brothers affectionately called him “The Horn Man” He won a Grammy for 1989 for his haunting rendition “Healing Chant” from the Yellow Moon CD. The instrument’s history goes back to the artist, who has over 50 years of musical experience. This was long before the 1977 formation of the family band. Turquoise was formed by Charles Neville, brother Art, and some other friends in the early 1950s. Neville was driven by Navy life and went on the road gigging with everyone, from Jimmy Reed to B.B. King and Bobby “Blue Bland. Neville was a member of the Dew Drop Inn’s house band and played with many of the most prominent names in his hometown such as Allen Toussaint (James Booker), Huey “Piano”, Smith (Ernie K. Doe). Angola prison’s alumni list reads like a New Orleans music legends after Neville was convicted of drug offense. Charles Neville is a multi-talented musician thanks to these influences. He was exposed to major musicians of his instrument through his time in New York, including Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane. Neville credited Louis Jordan as his inspiration and gigged in New York with George Coleman, Billy Higgins, and others. In 1977, he returned to New Orleans to meet his brothers. He was a member of The First Family of Funk, making him world-famous. The Nevilles were a great band that produced music that was rarely heard outside of the Crescent City for many years. Treacherous (1986), featuring everything from Mardi-Gras Indian songs to Aaron Neville’s hit “Tell It Like It is” was their most successful album. The album’s gospel ending was the best they recorded in the years that followed. Aaron Neville asked Charles the Horn Man to play for them. He did, and you can hear it on “Fever” from the same album. While they were respected in their home town, the Neville Brothers rose to stardom only after the musical collaboration between Aaron Neville (Linda Ronstadt) brought the rest of the world attention to what they had been missing. Aaron Neville’s solo career revealed a key fact about The Neville Brothers. Each of them had his own musical identity: Cyril Neville, with his reggae rhythms; Art Neville, with the Meters; and Charles Neville, with his group Diversity. Charles Neville
