Aaron Neville – My True Story

Aaron Neville has one of the greatest voices in the history of pop music.  He has the body of a linebacker and the voice of an angel (sorry I stole that line).  He has a distinctive vibrato and falsetto.  He is a member of the first family of New Orleans soul music (Neville Brothers).

This album is a doo-wop project.  Don Was (a great musician in his own right and now president of Blue Note Records) curated the project and had the genius (and the clout) to get Rolling Stone Keith Richards to help him produce. Richards and Was put together an amazing band.  That band, with Richards at the helm, is brilliantly understated.  It truly supports Neville’s singing and never overshadows – 50 years of backing a megalomaniac like Mick Jagger must have prepared Richards for this project.

All these songs will be familiar to even the most casual pop music fan.  Neville loving and gently rocks these gems.  This is a subtle affair – it reminds me of purring cat rubbing up against your leg on a cold night.    Neville’s voice is really indescribable – pure honey or has he sings in “This Magic Moment:”

Sweeter than wine
Softer than the summer night

Hear Aaron Neville talk about his new album at NPR.

Neville, Was and Richards