Happy Birthday, Ivan Neville!
John Dunlop
Ivan Neville was born in New Orleans on August 19, 1959, to one of the great musical families of the Big Easy. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers, and has clearly inherited the family’s legendary musical talent. He is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who has been performing in bands since 1977. Ivan has joined his father and uncles in The Neville Brothers, was a member of Bonnie Raitt’s band in the 1980’s, was a member of Keith Richards’ X-Pensive Winos tour, and has played with numerous musical luminaries including the Rolling Stones, Don Henley, Robbie Robertson, Delbert McClinton and Rufus. Neville and his cousin, Ian Neville (son of Art Neville) formed Dumpstaphunk in the early 2000s and play their own incomparable brand of funk and jazz. Neville is also a member of JazzFest phenom Dragon Smoke, along with Eric Lindell, Rob Mercurios and Stanton Moore. No matter who he is playing with, never miss an opportunity to see Ivan Neville perform! Happy Birthday to NOLA musical royalty!
Photo by Newber Machado