New Orleans All-Stars
with Cyril Neville, George Porter, Henry Butler & Raymond Weber
Thursday, May 15, 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20-$30; Box Seats $35

CYRIL NEVILLE

One of the four Neville Brothers, Cyril Neville was the youngest, born on January 10, 1948, in New Orleans, LA. Cyril picked up his love of music from his parents and his older brothers at an early age, but it wasn't until 1967 (at the age of 19) that Cyril began singing professionally, as he united with brothers Art and Aaron in the outfit Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, playing the New Orleans club circuit on a regular basis. Cyril and Aaron eventually left the group, forming another outfit, Soul Machine, shortly thereafter. 1970 saw the release of Cyril's debut solo single, "Gossip" b/w "Tell Me What's On Your Mind," which included backing music by brother Art's new outfit, the Meters. Soul Machine relocated to Nashville, then New York, but both moves failed to help put the group over the top. It just so happened at this time that the Meters were looking to expand their lineup, and asked Cyril to join in on vocals and congas -- contributing to such albums as 1972's Cabbage Alley and 1975's Fire on the Bayou, while the Meters opened up for the Rolling Stones during a sold-out 1974 U.S. tour.

Just as the Meters splintered in 1976, Cyril became enraptured with reggae music (thanks to Bob Marley's landmark Natty Dread album), as all four Neville siblings formed the Neville Brothers group, issuing numerous subsequent recordings. In addition to his work with the Neville Brothers, Cyril has formed other bands over the years, including the Endangered Species Band in 1983 and the Uptown Allstars Band, while he also found time to launch his own record label, Endangered Species. Cyril also founded the New Orleans Musicians Organized (NOMO), which helps musicians who need business advice with their careers. Cyril Neville has issued several solo albums on his own over the years, including 1995's The Fire This Time, and a pair in 2000, New Orleans Cookin' and Soulo. Plus he has guested on various other artist's recordings over the years, including albums by Edie Brickell, Jimmy Buffett, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Daniel Lanois, and Willie Nelson, among others.

»Visit Cyril Neville's Website - features Music & Videos

GEORGE PORTER, JR.

Few bass players in the history of modern New Orleans music are as storied as George Porter Jr. During the course of a career spanning four decades, Porter has not only made a deep impression with his work in the Meters, but he’s notched sessions with artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Patti LaBelle, Robbie Robertson and Tori Amos. Early in his career, Porter worked with seminal New Orleans artists like Allen Toussaint, Earl King, Lee Dorsey, and Johnny Adams. Back in 1965, Porter joined on with the Meters, considered by many to be the ultimate fusion of rock, funk and R&B, and gained recognition as one of the scene’s elite bass players.

Porter’s rhythmic work in the Meters in lockstep with drummer Zigaboo Modeliste was epic. Those pockets, the long notes and fat holes, provided the cushion for Leo Nocentelli or Art Neville to play or sing over and created some of R&B history’s most memorable grooves.

Today, Porter features that epic bottom end in his latest collection of Porter Batiste Stoltz tunes. “It’s the ultimate jam band,” Porter says, “one that actually is more musical than just playing everything you know in every song. This band slaps people in the face until they see how good the stuff is!”

»Visit George Porter's Website

HENRY BUTLER

"...Henry Butler is arguably the greatest living proponent of the classic New Orleans piano tradition, playing an amalgam of boogie-woogie, jazz, blues and classical in the lineage of Professor Longhair, James Booker, Tuts Washington, Allen Toussaint and countless other emperors of the ivories..." (CMJ New Music Report Issue)

An eight-time W.C. Handy “Best Blues Instrumentalist - Piano” award nominee, Henry Butler knows no limitations. Although blinded by glaucoma since birth, Butler is also a world class photographer with his work displayed at exhibitions throughout the United States. Playing piano since the age of six, Butler is a master of musical diversity. Combining the percussive jazz piano playing of McCoy Tyner and the New Orleans style playing of Professor Longhair through his classically trained wizardry, Butler continues to craft a sound uniquely his own. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.

While his early albums were jazz trio recordings featuring such top-notch instrumentalists as Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins, on “Fivin’ Around” in 1986, and Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette, on “The Village” two years later, Butler has increasingly turned to New Orleans music and the blues. His 1990 album, “Orleans Inspiration,” recorded with Leo Nocentelli of the Meters, was followed by “Blues And More” in 1992. Although he briefly returned to jazz with “For All Seasons” in 1996, he’s remained immersed in the blues since releasing “Blues After Sunset” in 1998.

Collaborating with Corey Harris on a duo album, “Vu-du Menz,” in 2000, Butler spent the next three years touring with the Delta blues-influenced guitarist/vocalist. That fascination with the blues has continued to be reflected in his solo work. After releasing a power-packed, all electric, blues-rock album, “The Game Has Just Begun,” in 2002 on the New Orleans-based indie label Basin Street Records, Butler takes things even deeper with his latest outing on that label, “Homeland,” released in April 2004. “This album is a real turning point,” he said. “It was the first time that I’ve brought a blues and R&B band into the studio with me. On this record, I’m feeling closer to my roots.”

»Visit Henry Butler's Website  |  »Audio & Video

RAYMOND WEBER

When Hurricane Katrina hit, New Orleans native Raymond Weber was on tour in Brazil playing drums with Ivan Neville. But his family was home; in fact, his wife was casually cooking a pot of red beans and relaxing when the storm struck. “I called her and said, ‘Are you crazy?’” Weber recalls. “I told her to get the kids and head towards Houston.”

After his South American tour, like thousands of others Weber retreated to Texas, where he re-joined his family. And while he still had his touring kit, Weber lost half a lifetime’s worth of gear. Drums, keyboards, recording equipment, and speakers were ruined by the muddy, black flood waters.

But the displaced drummer quickly found a purpose in his temporary home. As the beat of the New Orleans Social Club, a collective of legendary New Orleans musicians, Weber has helped to create the album Sing Me Back Home, which was recorded in Austin just six weeks after the hurricane. Weber had some heavy cats to impress—the Social Club features members of The Meters, The Neville Brothers, and The Subdudes. But for a drummer of Weber’s talent, it wasn’t difficult to fit in.

As the drummer on the Social Club project, Weber got to represent all the great New Orleans drummers he grew up in the shadow of, like Joseph “Ziggy” Modeliste and Fred Staehle. “Any time I do a record or play live, I feel like I have to represent my city’s sound,” Weber says. “You can hear the New Orleans beat on this album clearly on the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover, ‘Fortunate Son.’ It’s kind of uptown New Orleans, a second-line beat but in a funk-type way. It’s all New Orleans.”

»Visit Raymond Weber's Website