Musician. He was a member of one of the country's storied musical families, the Neville Brothers, and a founding member of the groundbreaking funk band The Meters. In his teens, he worked for a time in a record shop, where he absorbed the great doo-wop groups of the day, such as Clyde McPhatter's Drifters, The Orioles, The Clovers, as well as local piano rockers Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. In time he formed his own doo-wop group, and after school, after work, they would sit on New Orleans' local park benches and sing to the night. In 1953, he joined the Hawkettes, who recorded the classic 'Mardi Gras Mambo' in 1954. Most of the Hawkettes eventually went off to college and other pursuits after the recording was made, but Neville kept the group together, finding musicians where he could. By 1957 they found themselves touring with Larry Williams, whose 'Short Fat Fannie' and 'Bony Maronie' had been hits. After their tour, Neville was drafted into the Navy Reserve's active duty for two years, but his brother, Aaron, stayed with the Hawkettes, and when Art returned from duty, he rejoined his old group. Shortly thereafter, Allen Toussaint and Joe Banashak approached Art to join them in recording 'All These Things.' By 1966, he was touring with brother Aaron in support of the hit single, 'Tell It Like It Is.' After that tour, Art formed Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, which consisted of Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, Art on piano and organ, Zig Modeliste on drums, Gary Brown on saxophone and brothers Cyril and Aaron on vocals. Cyril, Aaron and Gary Brown eventually bowed out and formed the Meters, which developed a funk-infected R & B sound. Toussaint hired the Meters and the band released 'The Meters' in 1969, featuring the signature instrumentals 'Cissy Strut' and 'Sophisticated Cissy.' By 1972, the Meters recorded their first of several albums for Warner Brothers, opening for the Rolling Stones in 1973. In 1976, the Neville brothers recorded 'The Wild Tchoupitoulas,' a documentary of the Mardi Gras Indians. In 1977 the Neville Brothers were formally formed with Art on keys, Charles on sax, Cyril playing congas and Aaron on vocals. Among the more than two dozen albums the Neville Brothers recorded were 'The Neville Brothers' (1978), 'Yellow Moon' (1989), 'Family Groove' (1992), 'Mitakuye Oyasin Oyasin/All My Relations' (1995), 'Valence Street' (1999) and 'Walkin' in the Shadow of Life' (2004).