“The group melded rhythm and blues, gospel, doo-wop, rock, blues, soul, jazz, funk and New Orleans’s own parade and Mardi Gras rhythms, in songs that mingled a party spirit with social consciousness. Charles Neville – who usually performed in a beret and a tie-dyed shirt, with an irrepressible smile – was the band’s jazz facet, reflecting his decades of experience before the Neville Brothers got started.”