The Brothers: By Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril Neville and David Ritz Gumbo is a thick southern stew known for its unforgettable spices and sweetness. This Creole term also describes the stock making up the individual narratives and musical stylings of the Neville Brothers: Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril. Written with David Ritz, The Brothers chronicles the lives of one of music’s most recognized, musically diverse families. The Nevilles’ successful musical recipe is hard-earned and long-simmered, and they give first hand accounts of the loves, drugs, family members, civil rights struggles, and sounds that have shaped their individual and collective destinies. The intimate first-person narrative by each brother will make readers feel as if they’re seated at a small table, hearing each passionate morsel of the story.
Art, Aaron, Charles, and Cyril detail the basic ingredients of their beginnings. The Nevilles’ lives, collectively, never rise evenly: while one or two are reaping success, another might be in jail for drug possession, violence, or just plain being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The roux that keeps the brothers’ soup bubbling and heartfelt is their faith in the music they create. Through every success and setback they encounter, their heritage draws them back to one purpose, the sole occupation of their lives: playing music and making it cook. Author David Ritz has written biographies of some of music’s most vibrant individuals: Aretha Franklin, B.
B. King, Etta James, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Ray Charles. The Neville Brothers fit into this group of legendary soul, jazz, blues, rock, gospel artists with their talent rising up fourfold.
Kevin Zepper is a freelance writer from Moorhead, Minnesota.
