Charles Neville, saxophonist and founding member of the Neville Brothers Band passed away yesterday. I was fortunate to photograph the band with Charles many times over the years and most recently in 2008 at Jazz Fest. As I often do when a musician dies, I look through the photos. My search for images of Charles Neville after hearing about his death led me to the second weekend of Jazz Fest 2008. In honor of Charles and in the spirit of Jazz Fest 2018 which started today I would like to share a selection of photos from a decade ago.
This is a few years after Katrina and the city is slowly rebounding. The energy and talent of these artists was an important factor in this process. Many of the musicians shown here are no longer with us.
Walter Payton
Walter Payton with dancer
Walter “Wolfman” Washington and Ian Neville
John Boutte
Brett Dennen
John Bell
Kermit Ruffins
George Porter Jr.
Stevie Wonder with daughter Aisha Morris
Trombone Shorty
Art Neville
Michael Franti and John Butler
Uncle Lionel Batiste
Benny Jones Sr.
Aaron Neville
Herlin Riley
Shannon Powell
Jonathan Batiste
Diana Krall
Jimmy Buffet
Chick Corea with Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Snooks Eaglin
Stanton Moore
Big Chief Bo Dollis with June Yamagichi
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
Jack White
Carlos Santana
Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi
Charles Neville
Cyril Neville
Carlos Santana with Charles Neville and Aaron Neville
Looking back at these images after 10 years and so many of life’s twists and turns. I can honestly say this was a great lineup.
Scott Chernis 