Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009

Neville Brothers play Heard Theatre tonight with Dr. John and the Lower 911

Big Easy listening right after Mardi Gras

The Neville Brothers is synonymous with New Orleans. But right now, only one of the four brothers lives in New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina drove Aaron and Cyril to live elsewhere. Charles has lived in Massachusetts for 12 years.

“Art (the oldest brother) still lives in New Orleans,” said Charles Neville in a telephone interview last week. “His house was OK. He lives in a part of New Orleans that was not flooded. Cyril’s home was destroyed; Aaron’s home was destroyed. Cyril’s in Austin and Aaron just moved to Covington, La.”

The aftereffects of Katrina are still felt in the New Orleans music scene, Neville said. Many of the musicians moved away after the flooding.

“There are New Orleans musicians all over the country,” he said. “Some of them won’t come back. A lot of people can’t go back.”

He said high housing costs and rental fees keep some musicians away, while some get settled in other cities and start establishing a fan base in their new towns.

“I know a guy who lives in Gloucester, Mass. He’s becoming established there. Another great jazz singer is in Brattleboro, Vt. She’s settled there. They’re not going back.”

One of his daughters, Charmaine, who heads her own band, the Charmaine Neville Band, lived in the Ninth Ward, which was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods.

“She stayed,” her father said. “There were people there, elderly people. She went to a place where there was a bus garage. She took one of the buses and went back and got those elderly people in the bus and took them somewhere safe.”

Another daughter decided to stay in New Orleans as well, and ended up in the Super Dome.

One of Art’s daughters, television journalist Arthel Neville, was covering the events in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

She saw her cousin and got her out of the Super Dome.

Charles himself was in New York, watching on television.

After the hurricane, Charles and his brothers performed in benefits to raise money to help displaced musicians. His wife continues to work on efforts to rebuild New Orleans.

“We’re trying to keep the attention focused” on what’s needed to rebuild, he said.

Even last month, almost four years after the hurricane, there was still rubble in some neighborhoods, he said.

The Neville Brothers will perform with Dr. John and the Lower 911 tonight in the Bill Heard Theatre. Dr. John won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album a couple of weeks ago for “The City That Care Forgot.”

“We’ve known him (Mac Rebennack, also known as Dr. John) since we were kids,” Neville said. “We’ve done many tours together.”

The name of this tour is Mardi Gras Mambo, which was a song that Art Neville recorded in 1954.

Art is the eldest Neville Brother, followed by Charles, Aaron and then Cyril. They also have a sister, Athelgra.

“She was born between Aaron and Cyril,” Neville said. “She sings with the Dixie Cups.”

The Dixie Cups became famous with the 1964 hit, “Chapel of Love.” Athelgra replaced original Dixie Cup member Joan Johnson in 2005.

Growing up in New Orleans meant getting into music as a youngster, Neville said. “It’s still a tradition. Musical families are common in New Orleans. Everyone has a father, mother, aunts, sisters and brothers playing music.

“When we were in school, everyone we knew had at least one person in their family playing music. Music is a big part of life in New Orleans.”

Neville said besides their family, there’s the Marsalis clan, the Battiste family. “It goes on and on, the musical French families.”

The Neville Brothers began performing together in 1976 with the release of their first album, “The Wild Tchoupitoulas.”

They’ve been going strong as solo artists and as a group.

“Just tell everyone in Columbus that we’re on our way,” Neville said.