Charmaine Neville

Many of the music lovers who visit the city of New Orleans come away with fond memories of being entertained by Charmaine Neville. She and her sidemen, Reggie Houston and Amasa Miller, have a regular gig at the premier contemporary jazz club in the city: Snug Harbor. Host to the hottest acts in the jazz idiom, Snug Harbor is the place to find Neville thrilling the crowd with her unique mix of music and comedy and audience participation. Guests are likely to end up sharing a microphone with the entertainer for one of her impromptu singalongs. Her contagious smile and enthusiastic personality help reluctant participants overcome any semblance of stage fright in the intimate club. Soon everyone has joined in the fun and laughter. The audience loves her because she helps them love themselves. Nothing less could be expected from an entertainer who claims Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett as role models, and who says most of what she learned came from old cartoon shows with their swinging theme songs, like on The Flintstones. As a young girl, the New Orleans native took all that in while living in Austin, TX, where she later attended university. She started performing there when she was just 12 years old. When she returned to New Orleans at age 16, she learned for the first time that she came by her musical inclination naturally: she is the daughter of Charles Neville, the horn man for the Neville Brothers. Charmaine Neville became acquainted with her father and began gigging with him and his brothers, displaying her talents at both song and dance. But it is with her association with saxophonist Reggie Houston and pianist Amasa Miller that Charmaine Neville has established her reputation. The talented trio have a relaxed mix of familiarity and synergy. Good natured banter is...