Revel in the Nevilles

Shane Gammon

Friday, Jan. 16, 1998 | 9:43 a.m.

The Orleans hotel-casino gives Las Vegas a true touch of New Orleans style this weekend as the Neville Brothers come to town for performances at 8 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.

Zydeco, a style of music originating from New Orleans, mixed togther with a bit of jazz, reggae and rhythm and blues, is a style for which the Neville Brothers -- Art, Aaron, Cyril and Charles -- are known.

The brothers have been together in the music business since the mid-'60s, but the Neville sound has been around for nearly 50 years. Art and Aaron Neville -- the latter has had several solo hits, including "Over You," a remake of "Everybody Plays the Fool" and the duet "Don't Know Much" with Linda Ronstadt -- played the early '50s street and club scenes of New Orleans.

"We'd spend the whole night trying to sound like the Spaniels, the Clovers, and Sonny Til and the Orioles," Aaron said. "At dances, when I was a little kid, Art would be up there singing while I'd be dancing with some girl a foot taller than me. I knew then I wanted to be a singer."

Art made his first break when he recorded "Mardi Gras Mambo" with the Hawkettes in 1954. He went on to become a keyboardist for the group The Meters, but the Neville Brothers' true musical colors couldn't be shown until all the brothers united in the mid-'60s.

Although the brothers were a hit on the local music scene, it took some time for them to become widely recognized.

"Mitakuye Oyasin Oyasin" is what the brothers named their most popular album. It was taken from a ceremonial chant of the Lakota nation, which means, appropriately, "all my relations."

"We were originally going to call the album "Sacred Ground," Charles said, "because it's important to stress that we are all one, and that we all need to work together for our own survival and the survival of the planet."

"There's incredible joy when we're in the studio together," Cyril added. "That's the best thing about what we do. It's family."

The hard work paid off. The brothers won a 1986 Grammy for "best instrumental song" with the single "Healing Chant" from their "Yellow Moon" album.

"It's not just a job we do, it's a mission," Cyril said. "Our biggest success is that we've been able to stay together as a family, and didn't let envy or greed break us apart. We've been able to pass down to our children a sense of what's most important."

Tickets for Neville Brothers performances are $39.95, plus tax, and can be purchased at The Orleans Showroom box office or at any Ticketmaster location. For more information, call 365-7075.