Aaron Neville Returns With New Album and Tour
. Produced by acclaimed artist and producer Joe Henry, I Know I've Been Changed features collaboration by fellow New Orleans native son and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Allen Toussaint, who plays piano throughout the album. The album celebrates Neville's 50th year in recorded music and brings the artist's career full circle, as Toussaint produced Neville's first recording session in 1960. Neville will be touring in support of the new album, including dates on his special holiday tour, "Christmas with Aaron Neville and his Quintet Featuring Charles Neville," beginning November 30 in Minneapolis. Neville's first gospel recording since Hurricane Katrina ripped through his hometown of New Orleans and destroyed his home, I Know I've Been Changed is a celebration of the three things that have shaped him most throughout his life�his hometown, his music and his faith. The album, which is a tribute to the powerfully spiritual songs of Brother Joe May, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and The Blind Boys of Alabama that captured Neville's attention as a young boy, features interpretations of classic gospel recordings including, "You Got To Move," "Stand By Me," "Don't Let The Devil Ride," and "Oh Freedom. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Joe Henry over a period of five days, I Know I've Been Changed was produced with a stripped-down approach to showcase Neville's unmistakable vocals. The musicians on the album played along with Neville in the studio creating classic background arrangements to match the era in which most of the songs were originally recorded. The sessions reunited Neville with legendary songwriter, musician and producer Allen Toussaint, who grew up in a nearby New Orleans neighborhood and attended the same school as Neville. Toussaint says, "Such a gift could not have been bestowed upon a more worthy subject. Smooth at any tempo� from the slowest right up through the hippest and roughest. Aaron gives the song, the arts, the fullness of his heart and soul every time. He has always been that way. It's good to know that when something is that good, it's good forever. The velvet voice of Aaron Neville." Of the album, Neville says, "I Know I've Been Changed is a special project with special songs and great musicians. It's also my fifty-year anniversary. It was fifty years ago that I recorded my first record, with Allen Toussaint. This album is like going back in time. Each song has its own identity and feeling and it was an honor working with Joe Henry, who brought his magic to the songs as well. I think it's some of my best work." In addition to their musical collaborations throughout the years, Toussaint and Neville founded the charitable organization New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness (NOAAHH) in 1985. The organization is just one of the many community-focused initiatives of which Neville has been a part and reinforces the spirit of I Know I've Been Changed�one of undying hope. Neville is joined on the album by Toussaint (piano), Chris Bruce (acoustic and electric guitar), Greg Leisz (Dobro and Weissenborn), Patrick Warren (keyboards), David Piltch (upright and electric bass) and Jay Bellerose (drums and percussion). Niki Haris, Jean McClain, Darryl Phinnessee and James Gilstrap provide the backing vocals. Aaron Neville first rose to national prominence when his song "Tell It Like It Is" topped Billboard's R&B chart for five weeks in 1967 and quickly sold over one million copies. Neville again reached the top of the charts in 1989 with his album of duets with Linda Ronstadt, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. The album featured the #1 Grammy-winning hits, "Don't Know Much" and "All My Life." Neville also earned wide acclaim for his hits, "Everybody Plays the Fool," "Don't Take Away My Heaven" and "Hercules," among many others. Click here to read today's full Day in Pop report Preview and Purchase Aaron Neville CDs |
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