Ivan Neville

Keyboardist, singer, and songwriter Ivan Neville is the son of Aaron Neville and the founder/leader of Dumpstaphunk. He has performed often with the Neville Brothers, but is also an established recording artist, a bandleader, and a first-call studio and touring musician. Neville is an evangelist of incessant groove, exceptionally well-versed in playing soul, funky R&B, blues, jazz, rock, and reggae. A core member of Bonnie Raitt's band between 1985 and 1987, he released If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, his leader debut, in 1988. Since then, he has issued a handful of albums under his own name including 1994's Thanks, 2002's Saturday Morning Music, and 2004's Scrape, but he's best known as a featured sideman on some 300 recordings by artists ranging from the Rolling Stones to Rufus. In 2023, Neville ended a 20-year solo recording hiatus and issued his fifth album, Touch My Soul. Neville was born in New Orleans in 1959, the son of singer Aaron Neville. The remaining Neville Brothers (musicians Art, Charles, and Cyril) are his uncles; Big Chief Jolly (George Landry) of the Wild Tchoupitoulas was his great uncle. Ivan, with his family, grew up in the 13th Ward on Valence Street. (It is now one of the most famous thoroughfares in the Crescent City.) His father and uncle Cyril taught him to play piano and exposed him to the wide variety of music on offer in NOLA, from Preservation Hall and the Meters to Lee Dorsey and Professor Longhair. Neville played his first gigs as a teen sitting in with his father and Big Chief Jolly. He played clavinet in the very first incarnation of the Neville Brothers before forming his first band, the Renegades, in 1977. He made his first recorded appearance on the Neville's iconic Fiyo on the Bayou in 1981. Later that year he moved to Los Angeles to work with Rufus on Seal in Red. In 1986 he played on the Rolling Stones' Dirty Work and wrote for and played on Bonnie Raitt's Nine Lives. After leaving her band in 1987, Neville played on Keith Richards' Talk Is Cheap, and hit the road with his X-Pensive Winos in support. Ivan's own recording career began with 1988's If My Ancestors Could See Me Now. Released by Polydor, it was recorded in Los Angeles with an all-star cast that included drummers Steve Jordan and Jeff Porcaro, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, and bassist Randy Jackson. Neville played many instruments on the date. Its single, "Not Just Another Girl," went to number 26 on the Hot 100 chart, while his second single, "Falling Out of Love," a duet with Raitt, hit 91 and was featured in the 1989 comedy film Skin Deep. Neville's recording of John Finley's and Kenny Lee Lewis' "Why Can't I Fall in Love" appeared on the 1990 soundtrack to the Allan Moyle film Pump Up the Volume. Studio and live work were key for Ivan during the '90s. He played on Brother's Keeper, the Neville Brothers 1990 commercial breakthrough. In 1991, Neville appeared on Raitt's multi-platinum Luck of the Draw and on Robbie Robertson's Storyville. In 1992, he played with Richards again on Main Offender and toured with him. In 1994, he played on the Stones' smash Voodoo Lounge and toured. Neville released Thanks, his second album, in 1995 on the independent Iguana label. The star-studded effort included guests Warren Haynes, Branford Marsalis, Richards, Raitt, and others alongside his quartet. He briefly joined the Spin Doctors playing Here Comes the Bride. He also joined the band's tour and on occasions where singer Chris Barron lost his voice, he fronted the ensemble. In the early 21st century, Neville worked almost constantly. 2001 saw appearances on recordings by guitarist Barbara Lynn, soul singer Angie Stone, and Japanese guitarist and singer/songwriter Okuda Tamio. In 2002 he released his third album, Saturday Morning Music, and formed the jam band Dumpstaphunk with cousin Ian Neville to back him on tour. The group got international attention when they appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and set the entire studio audience to dancing. For Neville's solo appearance at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazzfest) in 2003, he called upon veteran musical compadres to back him including drummer Raymond Weber, bassists/vocalists Nick Daniels and Tony Hall, and cousin Ian Neville on guitar. Dubbing themselves Dumpstaphunk, they went over gangbusters with the NOLA crowd before undertaking a successful regional tour. With two bass players, Neville's various keyboards, three-part vocal harmony, and cracking drum kit breaks, the band was arguably the first deep funk jam band. Neville traveled to Los Angeles again to record his fourth album Scrape in 2004 (his last solo album for 20 years). Co-written with producer/multi-instrumentalist Gary Gold, it included 14 funk and roll tunes. The following year, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Neville joined the New Orleans Social Club in an Austin, Texas studio to record the benefit album Sing Me Back Home with producers Leo Sacks and Ray Bardani. Neville won praise for his reading of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son." The same year he appeared in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film Make It Funky!, a history of New Orleans music and its influence. Neville performed "Rip It Up" with drummer Earl Palmer and the house band, and "Fire on the Bayou" with the Neville Brothers. In 2007, Dumpstaphunk released Listen Hear, their debut studio EP. and toured almost constantly. Later that year, Neville participated in Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino and contributed a version of the set's title track. Between Dumpstaphunk tours, he did session work. Over the next couple of years, he contributed to albums by Taj Mahal (Maestro), Jerry Lee Lewis (Mean Old Man), and Ronnie Wood (I Feel Like Playing). He also appeared on live offerings from the Dave Matthews and Allman Brothers bands. Dumpstaphunk released Everybody Wants Sum, their 2011 full-length studio debut, to massive critical acclaim. Touring was done in short bursts as Neville had many session commitments. That year he played and sang on recordings by Eric Burdon (Soul of a Man), Kelly Clarkson (Stronger), Vieux Farka Toure (The Secret), Haynes (Man in Motion), and Trombone Shorty (For True). Dumpstaphunk followed with Live at Jazz fest 2012. Their second studio album, Dirty Word, was released in 2013, followed by a pair of live albums. Dumpstaphunk worked internationally as well as in the U.S. They became a festival staple in Europe and Asia. Whenever Neville had a moment, he lent his talents to studio recordings by artists both well-known and obscure. In 2014 alone he played on albums by Ani DiFranco (Allergic to Water), Dr. John (Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch), and Jerry Lee Lewis (Rock & Roll Time). In 2015, he returned to work with Richards, playing and singing on the guitarist's Crosseyed Heart; he also contributed to albums by his uncle Cyril Neville's Royal Southern Brotherhood and James McMurtry. Studio work continued to append Neville's itinerary with Dumpstaphunk. Over the next several years, he played on albums by everyone from Anders Osborne and Bettye Lavette to Walter "Wolfman" Washington and Snarky Puppy. In 2021, Dumpstaphunk issued Where Do We Go from Here? The acclaimed 11-track set featured guest spots by Marcus King, Trombone Shorty, Chali 2na, and Erica Falls. After two decades, Neville returned to recording under his own name with 2023's Touch My Soul, an album that celebrated the city of New Orleans, its culture, and people with an all-star guest list that included his father, Raitt, Michael McDonald, Trombone Shorty, uncle Cyril Neville, and Doyle Bramhal II.
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