Neville’s Triumph

Aaron Neville, a member of New Orleans’ exquisite Neville Brothers band, gave a solo performance Friday night at the Lingerie that was a quietly thrilling mixture of R & B hits, pop standards and contemporary material.

Adeptly accompanied by pianist Amasa Miller (who opened with a medley of tunes by South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim), Neville, an unabashed romantic, sang the most flowery lyrics with sincerity, where others might have felt tempted to poke fun, and he took every opportunity to sensitively embellish the melodies with his delicate, quavering vocal melisma. The low-keyed performance got a lift when his eldest son, Ivan, jumped on stage to add harmonies to John Hiatt’s “Washable Ink.”

The 90-minute set concluded with an effective reading of the standard “Misty,” followed by a chilling rendition of “Amazing Grace” that hushed the Lingerie and led to an impossibly soulful version of the “Mickey Mouse” theme. A triumphant affair.