“He’s Withstood the Test of Time.” Aaron Neville LIVE! at SOPAC
By: Spotlight Central
Tags: R And B Music, New Jersey, Concerts, Soul Music, Music

By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery

We’re with a sold-out crowd of music lovers in the lobby of NJ’s South Orange Performing Arts Center this Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, waiting for a live concert appearance by soul and R&B singer, Aaron Neville.

Aaron Neville was born in New Orleans. He began performing with his brothers in the early-1950s and by 1954, their group, The Hawkettes, had scored a regional hit in Louisiana with their song, “Mardi Gras Mambo.”

In 1967, Neville recorded a solo single on the Par-lo label, a company owned by a school friend. That song, “Tell It Like It Is,” reached #2 on the Billboard Charts, landing right behind “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees and earning Neville his first gold record.

1975 saw Neville reuniting with his siblings to form The Neville Brothers. Their 1989 album, Yellow Moon, brought the group’s R&B, soul, and funk sound to a national audience and earned the brothers their first Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Also in 1989, Neville teamed up with Linda Ronstadt to record the triple platinum selling album, Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind. Continuing his solo work with a pop-friendly adult contemporary sound on albums like 1993’s The Grand Tour, Neville also explored other genres of music, singing spirituals on 2000’s Devotion, jazz on 2003’s Nature Boy: The Standards Album, R&B on 2006’s Bring it on Home… The Soul Classics, and doo wop on 2013’s My True Story.

Neville’s latest solo studio recording is Apache, a 2016 effort on which he wrote or co-wrote ten of the disc’s eleven tracks. Turning 75 when the album was released, Neville supported the project by presenting a live concert in NYC which was recorded and will be released in audio and video formats in 2019 as Aaron Neville’s 75th Birthday Celebration Live at the Brooklyn Bowl.

As we wait for the auditorium doors to open, we chat with a group of fans including Violet from Huntington, LI, who tells us, “We traveled from New York to see Aaron Neville here at SOPAC because he’s not playing anywhere in New York at this time. I’m a very big fan — I’ve followed him since the ‘60s — he’s upbeat and I love his voice. I’ve seen him a number of times and I can tell you that he’s especially beloved in New Orleans.”

Rusti from Lyndhurst agrees adding, “I’m a big fan. I was in the Army in New Orleans in the early ’90s and I saw him perform there with The Neville Brothers. He has a beautiful voice — when he sings ‘Ave Maria’ it’s like the angels singing.”

Rusti’s husband, John, comments, “I’m a fan of Aaron Neville because of my wife. This is our fourth time seeing him, but it will be our first time here at SOPAC,” adding, “I often check the internet to see where and when he’s playing, and we were really happy to see he was performing right here in our home state of New Jersey.”

Concludes Daniel, a long time Neville fan from Newark, “As long as I get to hear that voice tonight, I’m gonna be happy!”

We take our seats in the cozy and inviting SOPAC auditorium where the lights dim for tonight’s opening act, singer/songwriter, KJ Denhert — an artist who refers to her moniker by joking, “It sounds like ‘Cajun dinner,’ but it’s less filling.”

Welcoming the crowd — acknowledging, “I know you’re here to see Aaron Neville!” — Denhert provides background info on her first selection revealing, “I was miserable in college, but I made a great friend. Although her name was not Esmerelda, I wrote this song, ‘Esmerelda,’ about her.”

Strumming and picking her guitar on this engaging minor blues, Denhert impresses with her smooth, soulful voice, her ability to tell a story through song, and the vivid imagery of her lyrics.

After talking about growing up in the Bronx, Denhert performs a story song about junior high school entitled “We Were Diamonds.” Singing, “We were diamonds/They were rough/Girls were mean and boys were tough,” she effectively uses electronic effects to sing harmony with herself on this breezy folk rocker.

Another highlight of Denhert’s set is “Beautiful,” a song she wrote because, as she explains, “People argue when you say they look beautiful.” Sounding much like an undiscovered Joni Mitchell classic, Denhert impresses with her earnest vocals and open-tuned guitar work on this personal and intimate composition where she makes audience members feel as though she is singing individually to each one of them.

During intermission, Denhert comes out to the lobby to meet and greet fans who hug and take pictures with her. Comments Sue from South Orange about Denhert’s performance tonight, “The fact that I could understand every word she sang was wonderful — and I love her message!”

Back inside the SOPAC auditorium, the lights dim and pianist Michael Goods sets the mood for the rest of the evening’s festivities by taking a seat at the grand piano and playing jazzy chords under a soft spotlight. The sound skips and rolls throughout the theater as Aaron Neville enters the stage to enthusiastic applause.

After announcing, “Give it up for Michael Goods!” Neville takes a seat at the keyboard and opens his set with a medley of classic R&B tunes including Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” The Drifters’ “There Goes My Baby,” and Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” and “Working on a Chain Gang.”