Art Neville, the forefather of funk, retires at age 81

If there was a Mount Rushmore dedicated to funk, Arthur Lanon Neville would be front and center. He provided the bedrock keyboard riffs to the legendary Meters and the mighty Neville Brothers, thereby setting the syncopated tone for much of New Orleans music from the 1960s into the 90s.

According to an announcement on Dec. 20, “Papa Funk,” as he’s known, is officially calling it quits. His 81st birthday party on Dec. 17 marked the end of his six-decade stint in the spotlight. The news will bring a sentimental flutter to the hearts of a generation.

Neville grew up in the Uptown section of New Orleans, on Valence Street and in the Calliope housing development. He was the oldest of his celebrated musical brothers, Aaron, Cyril and the late Charles, and his sister, singer Athelgra Neville.

In his 2000 joint autobiography “The Brothers Neville,” co-authored with his brothers and David Ritz, Art recalled that his first musical influence was his father Big Arthur (Arthur Neville Sr.), who sang around the house and while driving his cab. Dad introduced his oldest son to his friends such as bluesman Smiley Lewis and the die was cast.

Young Art was more passionate about music than school, attending St. Augustine and Booker T. Washington high schools before earning his GED from Walter S. Cohen. With fellow teenagers he formed the Hawkettes band and recorded the evergreen Carnival classic “Mardi Gras Mambo” in 1954. He said he taught himself piano as he went along, “faking it pretty good.”

The future funk pioneer served in the Navy, including a stint on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Independence, before returning to New Orleans during the seminal 1960s. It wasn’t long before Art achieved musical magic when he teamed with drummer Zigaboo Modeliste, bass player George Porter and guitarist Leo Nocentelli to form the mostly instrumental band The Meters.

The Meters’ sound was both spare and complex simultaneously. Art’s fingers skipped playfully across the keyboard of his organ between the knee-buckling percolation produced by Porter and Modeliste. Art’s inherent smoothness paired perfectly with the aggression of Nocentelli’s cackling riffs. The band soon included Cyril Neville on percussion and impassioned vocals.

The Meters were a stunning combo, whether jamming to “Cissy Strut” (named for a popular dance of the time) on Bourbon Street, flexibly backing the all-star lineup of musicians that recorded at Allen Toussaint’s studio, or opening for the Rolling Stones on mid-1970s tours. In addition to their own string of albums, they added their signature funk to records by Dr. John, Patti Labelle and Paul McCartney. New Orleans music would be measured against them for decades to come.

Art had already achieved musical immortality by the late 1970s when he united with his brothers to produce a New Orleans supergroup. Blending Meters-style funk, r&b, rock, reggae, some soulful doo wop, jazz, and Mardi Gras Indian chants, the Neville Brothers were an immeasurably talented amalgam of New Orleans music. When Art hunkered over his keyboards and growled out the first phrases of “Mojo Hanna” or “Sitting Here in Limbo” on a steamy night at Tipitina’s, it was impossible to not get goosebumps.

The Nevilles owned New Orleans stages for a quarter century and toured the world, sometimes opening for the Grateful Dead. In 1989 Art won a Grammy with the Neville Brothers for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Though, as he noted in “The Brothers Neville” it wasn’t always easy. There were, he said, “No instant hits, no national notoriety. The grind would be long and filled with new frustrations.” During the period he said he “fell down the dark hole of addiction,” which he eventually overcame.

But for those in the audience the tensions inside the band and Art’s personal demons were unknown. At the very end of many a concert he indulged his passion for science fiction by playing the chiming notes from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” as he raised a “Star Trek” Vulcan salute.

Over the past decades Neville has suffered from debilitating back problems that hampered his ability to perform.

Happy 81st, Art. We love you. Live long and prosper.