HUNTINGTON — New Orleans-born saxophone player Charles Neville, who once backed up B.B. King and later gained fame with the Neville Brothers band and their rollicking blend of funk, jazz and rhythm and blues, has died. He was 79.
Neville died Thursday at his Huntington home, surrounded by his family, months after he disclosed he was fighting pancreatic cancer.
Neville’s career dated to the 1950s when he performed with King and other musical greats such as Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino and Jimmy Reed. Yet he was best known for three decades of performances with his siblings Aaron, Art and Cyril as the Grammy-winning Neville Brothers band. The band was formed in the 1970s and gained fans with high-energy performances featuring a distinctive fusion of funk, jazz and New Orleans rhythm and blues.
Charles Neville won a Grammy in 1989 for his saxophone solo on “Healing Chant,” from the Neville Brothers’ “Yellow Moon” album. In recent years he had performed with his brother in the Aaron Neville Quintet, led his own ensembles, and worked with Native American fusion group the SongCatchers.
A publicist for Aaron Neville’s management agency confirmed the death in an email. Aaron Neville, who first disclosed the news to WWL-TV in New Orleans, declined an interview but posted a lengthy tribute to his brother on Facebook.
“I know you have a spot in the heavenly band next to James Booker, James Black, Herbert Hardesty, Fats Domino, Johnny Adams all the jazz bebop players who you turned me on to,” Aaron Neville wrote. “Dizzy, Charlie Parker, Miles and the list goes on.”
Charles Neville, who had lived in western Massachusetts for 20 years, announced in January that he had pancreatic cancer. An all-star tribute and fundraising concert that drew his brother Aaron and Branford Marsalis, among others, was held Feb. 3 at Northampton’s Academy of Music.
His death came a day before the opening of his hometown’s signature musical and cultural event, the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The Neville Brothers were a fixture on closing day of the festival for years. And members of the family continue to be a part of the event. Aaron is scheduled for a May 4 performance. Charles’ daughter, singer Charmaine Neville, is scheduled for a May 5 performance, the same day Aaron’s son Ivan performs with his band Dumpstaphunk.
Charles Neville’s life included a stint at Louisiana’s state prison in the early 1960s. He told an interviewer that he was sentenced to five years for possession of two marijuana cigarettes. The prison was notoriously dangerous but Neville said on the public radio program “Music Inside Out” that the time there sharpened his musicianship.
He explained that he worked in the prison music room. “I stayed in the music room practicing all day,” he said. He also had access to books on music, and, at times, exposure to other imprisoned musicians. “James Booker was there,” he said, referring to a celebrated New Orleans pianist.
Memorial arrangements are still pending, the family stated. Besides daughter Charmaine and his three brothers, Charles Neville is survived by his wife, Kristin, their two sons, Khalif and Talyn, along with other family.