NOTEWORTHY DEATH

NEW ORLEANS — Charles

Neville’s serene stage presence and soulful saxophone mastery earned him the affectionate title of “the horn man” while playing with his siblings in The Neville Brothers, one of New Orleans’ most influential bands known for their rollicking blend of funk, jazz, and rhythm and blues.

Neville died Thursday after a monthslong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 79.

His life and music are sure to be remembered during the 49th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which kicked off Friday, one day after his death.

Neville’s career dated to the 1950s when he performed with B.B. King and other musical greats. Yet he was best known for decades of performing with his brothers Aaron, Art and Cyril as the Grammy-winning The Neville Brothers band. The band, which formed in the 1970s, gained fans with high-energy performances.

Charles Neville often performed in a tie-died shirt, and his haunting saxophone wraps through the band’s song “Healing Chant,” which won a Grammy for best pop instrumental performance.

In a statement Thursday, Charles’ older brother Art mourned his brother’s passing.

“Today the world lost Charles “The Horn Man” Neville, I lost my little brother, and his passing leaves a big old hole in our entire family and our hearts. Let’s celebrate his life, knowing the heavenly band has a new member,” he said.

Charles Neville’s life included a stint at a Louisiana state prison in the early 1960s. He told an interviewer that he was sentenced to five years for possession of two marijuana cigarettes. The prison was notoriously dangerous, but Neville said on the public radio program Music Inside Out that the time there sharpened his musicianship.

He explained that he worked in the prison music room. “I stayed in the music room practicing all day,” he said. He also had access to books on music, and, at times, exposure to other imprisoned musicians. “James Booker was there,” he said, referring to a celebrated New Orleans pianist.