Music· 1960· Uptown & Carrollton

The Neville Brothers Uptown

Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril Neville grew up in the Calliope housing project in the 13th Ward and became the first family of New Orleans funk, R&B, and soul. Aaron’s ‘Tell It Like It Is’ was a #1 hit in 1966; the Neville Brothers as a group anchored Jazz Fest for decades. Their Uptown roots run through the Mardi Gras Indian tradition — Art Neville was a Wild Tchoupitoulas — and the second line culture that made New Orleans music inseparable from the streets it came from.

Quick facts

·Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril Neville grew up in the Calliope housing project in the 13th Ward.
·Aaron Neville's 'Tell It Like It Is' hit #1 in 1966 — one of the best-selling singles in New Orleans history.
·The Neville Brothers as a group anchored Jazz Fest for decades.
·Art Neville was a Wild Tchoupitoulas — connecting the family to the Mardi Gras Indian tradition.
·Their Uptown roots run through second line culture and the streets that made New Orleans music inseparable from the neighborhoods it came from.
·The Calliope project has been demolished and replaced by the Harmony Oaks development, but the Neville legacy is everywhere in Uptown.