As a standard bearer for the musical culture of New Orleans, Ivan Neville takes his anointing as seriously as the swamp water that courses through his veins. From the ferocious funk he makes with his bandmates in the dynamic Dumpstaphunk to his high profile gigs with Keith Richards and Bonnie Raitt, he embodies the irrepressible spirit of New Orleans.
Touch My Soul – Ivan’s first solo album in almost 20 years – is tough-minded but also tender, filled with joy, beauty and pain. It exudes an unmistakable New Orleans ambience and breathes new life into his singular sound. It’s both a love letter to the Crescent City and a celebration of his emotional and spiritual journey as an artist, a father and a man.
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of Touch My Soul ahead of its official release on April 21st via Mascot Label Group / The Funk Garage. If anything, this album is musical proof that Ivan Neville holds the keys to the Crescent City at his fingertips. He can summon the barrelhouse mambo of Professor Longhair and the spidery intricacies of James Booker. He can play spooky, atmospheric chords like Dr. John. He can riff like Sly Stone with catchy, melodic chord progressions. Or he can throw intense, impulsive jabs when he jams with his brothers in Dumpstaphunk. Compared to the more straightforward funk of his main gig Dumpstaphunk, this album is bursting with the spirit and lineage of New Orleans music. We get Mardi Gras indians, second line brass, a heaping serving of food references, soul, and the kind of R&B that would make Allen Toussaint smile sprinkled throughout. The album is truly a love letter to New Orleans aka “the greatest place on earth” according to Neville. As the leader of this effort, Neville shares some of his finest vocals and songwriter to date while also capturing the spirit and vitality of the city he calls home. He also enlists a handful of all-star friends to join him in this celebration of life in the Crescent City, ultimately adding another feather in the collective cap of the royalty that is the Neville family.
Ivan Neville describes the inspiration and process behind the album:
“Producing my first album outside of Dumpstaphunk in 2 decades was a satisfying way to reflect on the wide range of emotions given the course of the last few years, while also playing a different style with my core band + some of my friends throughout the years like Bonnie Raitt, Trombone Shorty, Michael McDonald, Doyle Bramhall, Pres Hall and to have my uncle Cyril and my Dad, the great Aaron Neville, all make contributions, I can’t wait for people to check out ‘Touch My Soul’!!
