“neville_brothers”
The Neville Brothers
Valence Street
Columbia
I’ll have to admit I haven’t followed the Neville Brothers very closely since the release of their critically-acclaimed Yellow Moon album in 1989. I’m relieved to find that with this latest release, they are still maintaining the same level of quality and integrity that fans of their music have come to expect.
Many of the songs included here contain a backbone of the same type of minimalist funk that made Art and Cyril Neville’s original group, the Meters, so engaging. The new songs may lack some of the grit found on Yellow Moon , but the writing and musicianship is still top-notch. An excellent cover of Richard Thompson’s “Dimming of the Day” and a collaborative remake of Wyclef Jean’s “Mona Lisa” help prove that these masters of New Orleans-style funk and soul are still a force to be reckoned with.
Columbia Records, 550 Madison Ave., 26th Floor, New York, NY 10022-3211
