Charles Neville, 79, the saxophonist in New Orleans' most celebrated band, the Neville Brothers, died Friday at his home in Huntington, Mass.
He died of pancreatic cancer. On Facebook, his brother and bandmate Aaron Neville, wrote, "You'll always be in my heart and soul, like a tattoo."
The Neville Brothers gathered New Orleans' abundant musical heritage and carried it forward. Art, Aaron, Charles and Cyril Neville formed their band in 1977 and maintained it, amid other projects, until disbanding in 2012. (They reunited for a farewell concert in New Orleans in 2015.)
The group melded rhythm and blues, gospel, doo-wop, rock, blues, soul, jazz, funk and New Orleans' own parade and Mardi Gras rhythms in songs that mingled a party spirit with social consciousness.
Charles Neville was the band's jazz facet, reflecting his decades of experience before the Neville Brothers got started. His soprano saxophone was upfront on the Nevilles' "Healing Chant," which won a Grammy Award as best pop instrumental in 1990.
Charles Neville was born in New Orleans on Dec. 28, 1939, the second of the four sons of Arthur Lanon Neville Sr. and Amelia Neville. At 15, Charles left home to play saxophone with the Rabbit's Foot Minstrel Show.
He went on to work with blues and R&B singers, including Larry Wiliams, Johnny Ace, Big Maybelle, Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. Back in New Orleans, he was a member of the house band at the Dew Drop Inn, working with local and visiting stars. After serving in the Navy from 1956 to 1958, stationed in Memphis, he went on to tour with B.B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland.
Neville began using heroin in the 1950s, sometimes shoplifting to support his drug use and serving short jail terms. It was a habit he would not completely overcome until 1986.
