Cyril Garrett Neville (born October 10, 1948) is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother
Art Neville
Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from New Orleans.
Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band ...
's funky New Orleans-based band,
The Meters. He joined Art in the
Neville Brothers band upon the dissolution of the Meters.
Career
He has appeared on recordings by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Robbie Robertson
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...
,
Edie Brickell
Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
,
Dr. John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B.
Active as a session musician from ...
and The New Orleans Social Club among others.
Neville is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage with The Neville Brothers in the 2005 documentary film ''
Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of
New Orleans music and its influence on
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
,
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
.
In the film, the band performs "Fire on the Bayou" with guests
Ivan
Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...
and Ian Neville. Neville was also featured in the 2006 documentary film ''
New Orleans Music in Exile
''New Orleans Music in Exile'' is a documentary and music film that was made in 2006 and released on DVD on August 7, 2007. It was directed by Robert Mugge.
Summary
Essentially, this film tells the story of several New Orleans based musicians d ...
''.
In 2005, Neville joined up with
Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967) is an American blues guitarist, musician, and singer. His playing combines a number of blues styles, primarily Delta blues.
He plays a stock 1972 Fender Telecaster Thinline electric guitar and writes his own ...
for the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars to bring awareness to Louisiana's rapid loss of wetlands along the Gulf Coast. The band also features Waylon Thibodeaux,
Johnny Sansone
John "Johnny" Sansone (born September 27, 1957), also known as Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, is an American electric blues singer, songwriter, harmonicist, accordionist, guitarist and piano player. He was nominated for seven music awards in 2012, incl ...
,
Anders Osborne
Anders Osborne (born May 4, 1966 in Uddevalla, Sweden) is an American singer-songwriter. He tours solo and with a band, and often plays in North Mississippi Osborne (N.M.O), a group formed by Osborne and North Mississippi Allstars.
Early life
...
,
Monk Boudreaux
Monk Boudreaux (born Joseph Pierre Boudreaux; 1941 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is an African-American musician and Big Chief of the Golden Eagles, a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. He is widely known for his long-time collaboration with ...
,
George Porter Jr.,
Johnny Vidacovich
John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. (born June 27, 1949) is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski.
He has also worked with Bobby McFerrin, Stanton Moore, Charlie H ...
, and Dr. John. The band has become a main feature at the annual
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...
.
After
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
he moved to
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, but as of 2012 lives in
Slidell, Louisiana
Slidell is a city on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 28,781 at the 2020 census. It is part of the New Orleans− Metairie−Kenner metropolitan statistical area.
Hist ...
.
Soul Rebels Brass Band
The Soul Rebels (also Soul Rebels Brass Band, Soul Rebels or The Rebels) are an eight-piece New Orleans based brass ensemble that incorporate elements of soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop music within a contemporary brass band framework.
...
featured Neville as a special guest on their
Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...
debut record, ''Unlock Your Mind'', released on January 31, 2012. The Soul Rebels' name was conceived by Neville at the New Orleans venue
Tipitina's
Tipitina's is a music venue located at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
History
Local music enthusiasts opened the venue on January 14, 1977.[Galactic
Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Origins and background
Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...]
. He put aside his solo career to tour internationally with the band.
In 2012, Cyril Neville joined forces with
Devon Allman
Devon Allman (born August 10, 1972) is an American guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The Allman Brother ...
(son of
Gregg Allman
Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...
of
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...
), award-winning blues-rock guitarist
Mike Zito
Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Woo ...
, bassist Charlie Wooton, and Grammy-winning drummer
Yonrico Scott
Yonrico Scott (October 6, 1955 – September 19, 2019) was an American drummer and percussionist. He was a longtime member of the Grammy winning The Derek Trucks Band, became a bandleader of his own ensemble, the Yonrico Scott Band, and later w ...
to form
Royal Southern Brotherhood
Royal Southern Brotherhood is an American blues and blues rock supergroup, consisting of singer and percussionist Cyril Neville, vocalist and guitarist Devon Allman, vocalist and guitarist Mike Zito, drummer Yonrico Scott, and bassist Charlie Wo ...
, a blues-rock supergroup.
Citations
* "Cyril Neville may be the youngest of the Neville Brothers, the first family of New Orleans rock and R&B, but he has just made his best album". - ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
* "a refreshingly original approach to the music" (*** 1/2) - ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
''
Discography
* 1994: ''The Fire This Time'' (Endangered Species) with The Uptown Allstars
* 1998: ''Soulo'' (Endangered Species) solo album
* 2000: ''New Orleans Cookin (Endangered Species) solo album
* 2003: ''For The Funk Of It'' (Kongo Square) with The Uptown Allstars
* 2007: ''The Healing Dance'' (Jomar/Silk) with Tribe 13
* 2009: ''Brand New Blues'' (M.C.) solo album
* 2012: ''Royal Southern Brotherhood'' (
Ruf) with Royal Southern Brotherhood
* 2012: ''Live in Germany'' (Ruf) with Royal Southern Brotherhood
* 2013: ''Magic Honey'' (Ruf) solo album
* 2014: ''Heartsoulblood'' (Ruf) with Royal Southern Brotherhood
* 2015: ''Don't Look Back'' (Ruf) with Royal Southern Brotherhood
Awards and honors
As a member of the Neville Brothers, Cyril won the 1989
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011.
*In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental
*From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance
...
for the song "Healing Chant".
In 1996, he and his brothers were nominated for the
for the song "Fire on the Mountain".
They were also nominated for the 1999
Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers of quality traditional R&B vocal performances. ...
for the album ''Valence Street''.
In 2014, Neville (as a solo) was nominated for a
Blues Music Award
The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...
in the 'Contemporary Blues Album of the Year' category for his album ''Magic Honey''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Cyril
1948 births
Living people
American percussionists
American soul musicians
Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans
People from Slidell, Louisiana
Neville family (show business)
The Neville Brothers members
The Meters members
Grammy Award winners
African-American musicians
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
Ruf Records artists